The M-League 2024-25 Draft has been announced and will be coming in just a few days! Today, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about the upcoming draft and check out some potential draft picks.
The Draft
On Friday, June 28, starting at 19:00 JST, the M-League 2024-25 Draft will be broadcasted on the official M-League YouTube channel and will last around 30 to 40 minutes. At the time of writing, the livestreamed is geoblocked, so fans outside of Japan will require a VPN to watch it.
Drafting Order
With the dropping of Uotani Yuumi and Tojo Rio being the only roster change during the offseason, the Sega Sammy Phoenix will be the only team to draft this time around. They will have to pick two players to fill in their empty spots.
- Sega Sammy Phoenix (1st pick)
- Sega Sammy Phoenix (2nd pick)
Potential Candidates
Drafting teams have the option to draft from any of the five supporting professional mahjong organizations:
- Japan Professional Mahjong Federation (JPML)
- Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM)
- Saikouisen
- Mahjong Union (Mu/μ!)
- Real Mahjong Unit (RMU)
Note: M-League Watch predictions to follow. Teams are not limited to the players listed below, nor are they guarantees of any player being drafted.
Sega Sammy Phoenix
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This draft, the Sega Sammy Phoenix have two spots to fill.
With Saikouisen signing a sponsorship contract with Sega MJ, it is heavily favoured that the Sega Sammy Phoenix will be signing players from Saikouisen. The favourites would be current and former title holders in the league:
- Takeuchi Genta (竹内元太) (Current Saikouisen title holder)
- Aikawa Marie (相川まりえ) (Current Saikouisen Women’s title holder)
- Arai Keibun (新井啓文) (2013 Saikouisen title holder)
They also have the option to draft former M-Leaguers who already well-known and have a strong following:
- Murakami Jun (村上淳) (Former Akasaka Drivens)
- Maruyama Kanako (丸山奏子) (Former Akasaka Drivens)
- Asakura Koushin (朝倉康心) (Former U-Next Pirates)
- Ishibashi Nobuhiro (石橋伸洋) (Former U-Next Pirates)
If the team wishes to keep their female-majority composition, they may choose also choose other top female players from Saikouisen:
- Nishijima Chiharu (西嶋千春) (4-time Saikouisen Women’s title holder)
- Komiya Haruka (小宮悠) (2019 RMU Open League, 2021 Saikouisen Newcomer champion, Women’s A-Leaguer)
And that’s all you need to know about the upcoming draft! Who will be drafted? WIll they be newcomers or familiar faces? How will they and M-League fans react? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!
M-League Watch 