Standings
The top team this week is the U-Next Pirates. They didn’t need more points, but they got them anyways. Three 1sts and a 2nd place did the job, including a 79,300 win by Nakabayashi for the team’s best win of the season. With their +243.2pts gain this week, it’s the best score any team has gotten in a week this season. With their current score of +754.3pts, the team has also broken the record for highest team score ever, breaking the score of 703.1pts that the EX Furinkazan achieved last season. Being 1008.7pts ahead of the border, the team has essentially no chance of missing the playoffs unless they choose to break a few more records. On The MVP award side, the Pirates sit 1st, 2nd and 4th, with rival Katsumata tied with Yu in the middle. Facing the EX Furinkazan on Monday, it will be interesting to see who the team will send out.
Coming in next is the Beast Japanext with a +19.6pts gain. The team had an even 1/1/1/1 record and edged positive with Sugawara’s big 53,800 2nd place. Despite this positive result, they still sit just over 100pts behind the 6th place EX Furinkazan. Their biggest day will be on March 29, the last day of the regular season. Facing the EX Furinkazan, it will be the epic battle to determine whether their season continues or ends.
Coming in next with a +16.4pts gain is the EX Furinkazan. They played two games with a 1st and a 4th, having a slight positive. The EX Furinkazan sit in the most dangerous seat in the standings. On Monday, the team will be facing off against the top three teams in the standings. With Katsumata right in the middle of an MVP fight, this day will be crucial to get some potential direct hits. On Friday, they wil be facing off against the 7th place Beast Japanext. If they do well in these games, they may have a chance to go up to 5th place or even the positives. If they do poorly, it may be the end of their season.
With a +16.1pts gain is Team Raiden. A positive would normally be good, but it might be too little too late. As of right now, the team is 287.0pts away from a playoff spot. With only two games left to go for them (being the first team to finish their season), they will need to get two record-breaking wins and hope for the failure of their opponents. Still, anything is possible. Do your best, watch, and wait.
Kadokawa Sakura Knights are next with a +10.7pts gain. It was Okada’s week, playing 3 games this week in pursuit of the MVP award. She had a total of +33.7pts this week, but frontrunner Mizuhara had a big 1st place to make the MVP award a bit harder to get. Sitting 130.9pts behind, Okada still has a chance to reach it and could potentially face any of the top four players on Monday. For the team, they sit in 3rd place and 129.1pts behind the 2nd place Akasaka Drivens. Facing them in all four of their last games, it is a big opportunity to move up a rank and create space going into the semifinals.
The last gaining team is the Akasaka Drivens with a +8.0pts gain. They played two games this week with a 1st and a 4th. Getting the 1st place is MVP hopeful Sonoda Ken, sitting 173.3pts away from 1st place. He has a difficult task ahead of him if he wants the award, but not impossible. Applying pressure on them all next week is the 3rd place Kadokawa Sakura Knights, facing them in all four of the final games. Their performance here will be a preview of what will come in the semifinals.
Going into the negative teams, the Shibuya Abemas had a loss of -26.6pts. The team had an even 1/1/1/1 record this week, but their bottom two placements outweighed their upper two placements. On one hand, they are very unlikely to lose a playoff spot with just two more games left for them. On the other hand, Matsumoto is out of range of the MVP race, the team is in the negatives (approaching their worst season finish in both standing and score) and there is still a chance for them to lose the spot. They must not let their guard down. If they can avoid the dreaded double 4th on Thursday, they will be almost guaranteed the playoff spot and could possibly move into 4th place.
Coming in with a triple-digit negative is the Sega Sammy Phoenix. In a mixture of bad luck and desparation-induced plays, the team had two big losses and was unable to get a 1st place. Sitting in 9th place and 398.6pts away from the border, it is imperative for them to get four big 1sts in order to have a chance at a playoff spot. Nothing else will do. Otherwise, they will be looking at regrouping and figuring out areas of improvement for next season.
And finally, coming in last in the performance rankings, we have the Konami Mahjong Fight Club. It was quite the unfortunately week for the Konami Mahjong Fight Club, having two 3rds and two 4ths (both by the usually steadfast Hisato). Sitting 166.5pts away from 6th place, having a bad time in the final week could drop them multiple ranks. In the nightmare scenario, they could fall out of a playoff spot. If Date creates a spectacular performance next week, she could secure the 4th-place avoidance award, have a chance at the MVP award and solidify the team’s position in the playoffs. Just hold on for one more week.
And that’s all for this week! Just one more week to go in the regular season! Which teams will move on to the next round? Which players will bring home individual awards? can someone finally get a yakuman to convert? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see! See you in the final week!
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