Tuesday (October 22)

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Game 1

Dama Direct

October 22, Game 1, E1-1

In E1-1, Katsumata is the dealer in 1st place after calling riichi and being the only one tenpai the previous hand.

Katsumata starts out the hand by drawing the 4s dora and getting to 4-shanten. Through the first row, he builds both his shapes and his value. On turn 6, he draws a red 5m to get to iishanten with tanyao. On turn 7, he draws the red 5s to fill in a kanchan and put him tenpai on a 67m wait. Already having a mangan, he stays dama and hopes to get someone with the big dealer hit.

On turn 8, iishanten Okada discards the 7m and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 12,000+300 plus one riichi stick, putting Katsumata above 40,000.

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Big Bonus

October 22, Game 1, E1-4

In E1-4, there are three riichi sticks and four honba on the table after the previous two hands went to a draw. Sitting in 3rd place is Sonoda, 5,000 behind 2nd place Takizawa. Any win will let Sonoda move up a rank.

Sonoda starts out the hand at 3-shanten, but with terminal shapes and and no value. Becuase of the terminal shapes, Sonoda just has to sit and wait. In the first row, he draws a 5m dora and gets himself to iishanten. To secure the 5m, he will need to fill in the 5m kanchan.

In the middle of the second row, Sonoda fills in a ryanmen. It’s not the waiting ideal shape, but he is tenpai and calls riichi on a 6m kanchan. On his very next draw, Sonoda draws the 6m and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1 for 2,000+400/4,000+400 plus three riichi sticks.

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Killing Ryan

October 22, Game 1, E2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2586

In E2-0, Katsumata is in 1st place and 6,700 ahead of 2nd place dealer Sonoda.

Katsumata starts out with a strong 3-shanten hand with two ryanmens, a pair of white dragons and a floating 4p dora. To his right, Sonoda is 4-shanten for a standard hand with some very flexible shapes. In the first row, Katsumata gets to 2-shanten with the possibility of a 678 sanshoku, while Sonoda draws quite a few pairs and actually gives himself the chance for a ryanpeikou. To get the big hand, he just needs a 7s and a 2p.

On turn 8, Sonoda gets the 2p and stays dama on a 47s ryanmen. With pinfu and two dora, he will have a haneman on the 7s and a mangan on the 4s.

In the middle of the second row, Katsumata draws a 7s to fill in his kanchan and get to iishanten. On his very next draw, he draws the 6m to complete his 678 sanshoku and get to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen. Immediately after, Sonoda draws and discards the red 5m and deals into Katsumata. Katsumata wins the hand with Sanshoku/Aka 1 for 5,200, killing the ryanpeikou.

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Takizawa Attack

October 22, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3585

In S2-1, Takizawa is in 3rd place, 3,400 behind 2nd place Sonoda and 17,500 behind 1st place Katsumata. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.

Takizawa starts out with a favourable starting hand, sitting at 2-shanten with two ryanmens. On turn 3, Takizawa draws a 4m to fill in one ryanmen and secure tanyao.

In the second row, Takizawa shifts his hand to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, guaranteeing him a good wait and giving him a chance at a 234 sanshoku (needing only the 2p to secure it).

As Takizawa keeps waiting for tenpai, Okada gets to tenpai at the end of the second row and waits on a 6p kanchan.

At the start of the third row, Takizawa draws the red 5m to finally get to tenpai and waits dama on a 25p ryanmen. With a 2p win, he will have mangan, with any additional han upgrading him to a haneman.

With Takizawa’s discard, Katsumata calls chii and gets himself to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen.

On Takizawa’s next draw, he gets the ideal 2p and wins the hand. Takizawa wins with Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 1 for a big 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus one riichi stick, moving him into 2nd place and putting him just 1,100 from 1st place.

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Sonoda Strike

October 22, Game 1, S3-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2080

In S3-1, Sonoda is in 4th place, 1,400 behind 3rd place dealer Okada, 10,400 behind 2nd place Katsumata and 17,000 behind 1st place Takizawa.

Before Sonoda has a chance to get his first draw, Okada takes action and calls pon on both the east and the 1m.

When Sonoda finally gets his first draw, we see him a a good 3-shanten hand with three good shapes and two connected red 5m. His hand develops quickly and he manages to get to iishanten on his third draw with a three-sided wait. In the second row, he increases his tile acceptance and gives himself a chance at a 456p iipeikou.

In the middle of the second row, Okada is the first to tenpai and waits on a 7m kanchan.

Soon after, Sonoda draws a 5p to complete the iipeikou and calls riichi on a 369m three-sided wait. If he wins of the 3m or 6m, he will have haneman.

Across from Sonoda is 1st place Takizawa, building a souzu honitsu with a green dragon triplet already in tow. Making a call at the end of the second row, Takizawa, gets to tenpai on a weak 4s wait. A turn later, he discards it in favour of an 8m tanki. Right after, Takizawa switches to a wide 2356s shape.

On Okada’s draw, she gets the 6s. Having a weak wait and seeing the danger of both Takizawa and Sonoda, Okada correctly chooses to fold.

Takizawa isn’t so lucky, though. Drawing the 9m on his draw, he chooses to push to keep his good wait and deals into Sonoda.

Sonoda wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 8,000+300. With the direct hit, he moves himself to 3rd place and just 400 behind now 2nd place Takizawa.

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Quick Finish

October 22, Game 1, S4-0

In S4-0, Katsumata is in 1st place going into the final hand. However, his lead is slim with 2nd place dealer Takizawa just 1,700 behind and 3rd place Sonoda just 2,100 behind. Even a relatively small win by his opponents can push Katsumata into 2nd or even 3rd with a direct hit.

With Katsumata’s very first draw, he gets himself into a quick iishanten, only needing to fill in a 7m penchan and a 14p ryanmen. If he can fill in the penchan first, he will have pinfu. Sure enough, just two draws later, Katsumata draws the 7m and sits dama on a 14p ryanmen. Immediately after, Sonoda discards the 1p and deals into Katsumata.

Katsumata wins the hand with Pinfu/Aka 1 for 2,000, quickly ending the game in 1st place.

The hand finished so quickly that you could still hear the autotable shuffling when Katsumata called ron.

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Results

Game 43

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Game 2

Mighty Mari

October 22, Game 2, E1-0

In E1-0, Takamiya is the playing for the Konami Mahjong Fight Club and starting as the first dealer.

Takamiya’s starting hand is 3-shanten for both a standard hand and chiitoi, holding a connected red 5m for value. After filling in a ryanmen to secure the red 5m in the first few turns, Takamiya affirms the standard route by getting rid of her 1s pair. At the end of the row, she fills in an 8s kanchan to get to iishanten.

In the second row, she draws a 5p to readily accept the 6p dora, and then draws that 6p dora on the very next draw. Sitting tenpai, she calls riichi and waits on a 2p kanchan.

At the start of the third row, Takamiya draws the 2p and wins the hand. Takamiya wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, taking the early lead.

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Gase Pedal

October 22, Game 2, S2-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2587

In S2-0, Matsugase is the dealer in 3rd place, needing 13,800 to get to 2nd place and 14,400 to get to 1st place.

Matsugase’s starting hand is set with five blocks and even has a connected dora 3s. However, only his pair is completed and he sits at 3-shanten. Through his first six draw, he is only able to fill in a ryanmen and advance to 2-shanten. The second row is no help either, keeping him stuck. In the third row, progress is finally coming. At the start of the row, he fills in a ryanmen and gets to iishanten.

However, because it’s taking so long for Matsugase to advance, it gives his oppoents time to build themselves. Near the middle of the third row, Takamiya is the first to tenpai and waits on a 7m/north shanpon. only allowed to win on the north.

The wall winds down and and Matsugase is still not tenpai. Then, on Matsugase’s second-last draw, he fills in a 2m kanchan and gets to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 14s ryanmen. With only six tiles left in the live wall, he only has a single chance to tsumo it.

With five tiles left in the wall, Futoshi chases and calls riichi on a 6m kanchan.

With four tiles left in the wall, Shibukawa calls the third riichi and waits on a 69s ryanmen. If no calls are made and he draws the winning tile, he will have the haitei on his ippatsu draw.

Things went from 0 to 100 real quick. To finish it all off, Matsugase gets his winning 1s on his ippatsu draw and wins the hand. Matsugase wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 6,000 all plus two riichi sticks, instantly moving him into 1st place.

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Silent Sanshoku

October 22, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2081

In S2-1, Futoshi is in 3rd place after Matsugase passed him with his big dealer haneman tsumo. To retake top spot, Futoshi will have to overcome a 12,600 deficit.

Futoshi starts out with a 4-shanten hand and a loosely connected red 5s and a floating 2m. The first row, was mostly dominated by Matsugase, who calls pon on the east and calls a chiitoi put himself iishanten.

However, Futoshi has been silently working in the shadows. The first row provided him with a red 5p for value, confirmed his tanyao and gives him the potential for a 567 sanshoku (needing a 7m and a 6s to complete it). After a lot of waiting, Futoshi gets the 7m at the end of the second row and waits dama on a 6s kanchan, guaranteed a mangan on a ron and a haneman on a tsumo.

On his very next draw, Futoshi draws the 6s and wins the hand. Futoshi wins with Tsumo/Tanyao/Sanshoku/Aka 2 for 3,000+100/6,000+100, retaking the lead.

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Wide Wait

October 22, Game 2, S3-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3586

In S3-0, Takamiya is in 3rd place, an annoying position considering that she was in 1st place just two hands earlier. Nos, she sits 9,200 behind 2nd place Matsugase and 15,000 behind 1st place Futoshi.

Takamiya’s starting hand is 3-shanten with a connected 7m dora, but also has a terminal sequence and a terminal block, forcing her to stay closed. The first row is mainly focused on building around her manzu shape. At the end of the row, she draws a red 5m to get to iishanten and potentially give her a chance at a four-sided wait. She improves her hand soon after by shifting to a guaranteed tanyao.

As Takamiya waits, Matsugase gets to tenpai first and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

In the middle of the second row, Takamiya finally gets to tenpai and calls riichi on that wide 2358m wait, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins. If she draws the 258m herself, she would have a haneman and move into 1st place.

On the ippatsu round, Matsugase draws and discads the 2m and deals into Takamiya. Takamiya wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 12,000 plus a riichi stick, moving into 2nd place and just 2,000 from the top.

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Results

Game 44

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