Game #4
Akasaka
Drivens
U-Next Pirates
EX Furinkazan
Kadokawa
Sakura Knights
Direct Hit
May 7, Game 2, E2-1
In E2-1, Sonoda is is in 4th place early after being the only one noten the previous hand. Sitting in a 1st place tie are Hori and dealer Yu. With the Drivens at the bottom of the rankings and the U-Next Pirates at the top with a sizeable lead, Sonoda needs to win and bring the Pirates down a peg.
Sonoda starts out with a strong 3-shanten hand with three ryanmens and a connected red 5m. In the first row, he fills in a ryanmen to create a 345m sequence and creates a 25s ryanmen. With perfect draw, Sonoda can get a 345 sanshoku. However, he still needs to find a pair. In the middle of the second row, he pairs up the 7p to get to iishanten, now left with a 25s ryanmen and a 25p ryanmen. As he waits for tenpai, Yu gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 7p kanchan.
With Yu’s discarded east dora, Matsugase calls pon to get himself to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen.
The it finally gets around to Sonoda, he is able to draw a red 5p and calls riichi on the 25s ryanmen. If he wins on the 2s, he will win at least a mangan. If he wins on the 5s, it will be at least a haneman. On Yu’s draw, he draws and discards the 2s and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Aka 2 for 12,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, moving into 1st place and pushing Yu down into 4th.
Sashikomi
May 7, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p2995
In S2-1, Hori is in 3rd place, 3,000 behind 2nd place Matsugase and 6,300 behind 1st place Sonoda. More importantly, Yu is in 4th place and the dealer. With 1st place overall being the main goal and the U-Next Pirates currently occupying that spot, Hori wants to end any chance of Yu making a comeback.
Hori starts out the hand with a 4-shanten with a lone west dora. Matsugase sits at 2-shanten with a triplet of red dragons and two red fives, while Yu is 3-shanten with a pair of wests (though no clear yaku). When the west comes out for Sonoda’s hand, Yu instantly calls pon on it, wanting to force a chanta hand and scare the competition. By the end of the firs row, Yu is 2-shanten, Matsugase is iishanten and Hori is at a distant 3-shanten. With a pon on the 1m, Yu gets himself to iishanten.
Seeing Yu making a lot of progress, Matsugase decides to open up his hand, calling a 234m chii, discarding the 7s and waiting on a 45s wait.
On Hori’s turn, he knows that Yu is quickly progressing with an mangan minimum hand. He also knows that Matsugase’s call puts him either close to or at tenpai. If Hori can help Matsugase win, that would end Yu’s dealership and expensive hand.
If Matsugase is in tenpai, then the 7s would indicate that his wait is around there. He wouldn’t hold onto it for longer than he needs to since it is a dangerous middle tile. The 8s discard by Matsugase in the first row and the three visible 5s (two in discards, one in Hori’s hand) further reduces his wait options since there are multiple ways he could be furiten. Thus, some potential shapes he could have had are a 357s shape (discard the 7s to wait on a 4s) or a 577s shape (discard the 7s to wait on the 6s). With this in mind and the fact that Yu is going for chanta, Hori chooses to discard the 4s, trying to deal into Matsugase.
The plan works and Hori ends Yu’s dealership. Matsugase wins the hand with Red Dragon/Aka 2 for 3,900+300, making everyone but the U-Next Pirates happy.
Rewarded
May 7, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3070
With Hori ending Yu’s dealership, it’s time for Hori to get some points for himself. In S3-0, he is 10,500 behind 2nd place Sonoda and 11,400 behind 1st place dealer Matsugase.
From the start, Hori is 2-shanten with two ryanmens and a floating 7s dora. On turn 2, he fills in a ryanmen and gets rid of his 3s penchan, hoping to get pinfu, tanyao or both. On turn 3, the table is met with a surprise as Matsugase gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 4p kanchan.
With the riichi by Matsugase, Hori is basically forced to hold the 7s dora. With no clues on what is safe, Hori just pushes. Sonoda to Hori’s right has the same idea. With a 345s chii to secure the red 5s in his hand, Sonoda gets to iishanten. A turn later, he gets to tenpai on a 2p tanki. He switches the wait in the second row and switches to a 25m nobetan.
Hori still sits at iishanten and is still waiting to connect the dora 7s. In the middle of the second row, Hori draws the very last 8s to finally connect the 7s dora. He calls riichi and waits on a 69s ryanmen. On the ippatsu turn, Hori draws the 9s and wins the hand. Hori wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 3,000/6,000 plus one riichi stick, moving him into 1st place.
After winning a small hand at the start of his dealership, Hori aims to continue it in S4-1. More points means getting closer to the EX Furinkazan and U-Next Pirates.
Hori starts off with a 2-shanten hand and a path to tanyao and pinfu. Making a pair of 8p on turn 2, he advances to iishanten. On his next turn, he fills in a 4m kanchan and gets to tenpai on a 4m kanchan. He stays dama, trying to add extra value and improve the wait.
On turn 5, he draws a 4m to create a 3445m shape, a strong shape to create good waits and potentially iipeikou. To his left, he sees that Matsugase is going for a pinzu flush hand. When Hori draws the 7p to create a 69p ryanmen, he chooses not to take it since it is very unlikely that someone would throw a pinzu tile.
His decision is rewarded as he gets a 6m on his next turn. He calls riichi and waits on a 25m ryanmen. During the ippatsu round, Yu gets to tenpai and has a choice between a 69s ryanmen or a 25m nobetan. Since the manzu wait doesn’t give pinfu, he tosses the 2m and ends up dealing into Hori. Hori wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao for 12,000+300.
All Last Try
May 7, Game 2, S4-2
In S4-2, Matsugase is in 3rd place, 4,600 behind 2nd place Sonoda. With the two honba, Matsugase needs a 2/30 direct hit, a 3/30 tsumo or a 3/40 ron.
For Sonoda, his job of going up a ranking is significantly harder, sitting 19,300 behind 1st place dealer Hori. However, it is possible with a haneman direct hit, a baiman tsumo or a sanbaiman ron. A win this game would be significant for the Akasaka Drivens at the bottom of the standings.
Sonoda’s starting hand is at 3-shanten with a secured red 5m, but is severely lacking in value if he wants 1st place. Matsugase, on the other hand, has a red 5s and a pair of green dragons at 3-shanten. Since calling pon would be enough, Matsugase needs to stay closed and call riichi if he can’t draw any 5p dora. The first row seems to be giving Sonoda some pairs, transforming his hand into chiitoi. With a bit of ura luck, he hand has the potential to get to a baiman. Across from him, Matsugase is iishanten, but the green dragons are still a pair and the 5s stands alone. After drawing two more pairs, Sonoda gets to tenpai in the middle of the second row and calls riichion a 6s tanki. Winning by self draw would give him at least a haneman. He will need to draw it himself and hit the uradora to finish in top spot.
With the riichi by Sonoda, Matsugase’s winning conditions have changed. Now he can win with a 2/40 ron to tie Sonoda, while a direct hit or tsumo would be enough. With a good draw, Matsugase gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36s ryanmen. Ron for a tie, direct hit or tsumo for sole 2nd place.
With the riichi by Matsugase, Sonoda’s winning conditions have changed. Now he can win with a haneman tsumo and take 1st place. All he needs is to draw the 6s and he will win. Both players look for the tile that would let them move up a rank. There’s a chance at a headbump, but Yu and Hori are both good at defending. Yu draws a 3s, reducing the number. Yu draws a 6s, reducing it even further. One draw remains for each. On Matsugase’s last draw, he gets the red dragon. As it comes around the Sonoda, he draws the 9m, ending all hope. With a safe discard by Yu, the hand ends in a draw with Matsugase and Sonoda in tenpai, leaving the leftover riichi sticks in Hori’s care. A good chance at a comeback that did not pan out.
Final Scores
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s60_p250
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1787838134673453107
Standings
Hori’s win gives the team a massive boost. The Kadokawa Sakura Knights are still in 3rd place, but they are now just 33.8pts behind the 2nd place EX Furinkazan. This marks the second day that the Kadokawa Sakura Knights are the winners of the day. The 4th place by Yu is a major blow to the Pirates, but keeping Matsugase in 3rd place lessened the blow and the lead remains wider than what they started the day with.
After just two days of action, we are already a quarter of the way through the finals! The Kadokawa Sakura Knights are hot on the tail of the two leaders. Can they make it to 2nd place or even 1st place by the end of the week? Can the U-Next Pirates and EX Furinkazan defend their turf? Can the Akasaka Drivens make a comeback? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!
M-League Watch 