Monday (January 20)

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Game 1

Dora/Aka/Ura

January 20, Game 1, E1-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6082

In E1-1, Sugawara is in 2nd place and 3,900 behind 1st place Mizuhara, trying to continue the relatively good momentum of the Beast X.

Sugawara starts out the hand. iishanten with her first draw with a secured red 5s and a loosely-connected dora 3m. In the first row, Sugawara tries her best to improve her shapes. By turn 7, Sugawara improves to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten, guaranteeing her pinfu.

In the middle of the second row, Sugawara gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.

Across from her is Ooi, looking to get his own team into a playoff spot. During the ippatsu, round, Ooi creates a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten himself. On his very next turn, Ooi gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen.

As if two pinfu riichi calls aren’t enough, Mizuhara gets to tenpai in the third row and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a dealer mangan if she wins. Unfortunately, none of her winning tiles are left in the wall.

Two turns later, Sugawara draws the 7m and wins the hand. Sugawara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus two riichi sticks.

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Mizuhara Movement

January 20, Game 1

In E2-0, Mizuhara is in 2nd place and 17,500 behind 1st place Sugawara.

Mizuhara starts out the hand at 2-shanten with three completed sequences. On turn 3, she pairs up the red dragon, getting to a wide iishanten. At the end of the first row, Mizuhara draws the final red dragon in the wall and calls riichi on a 58p nobetan.

Two turns later, Sugawara gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen. With a triplet of dora norths in her hand, Sugawara is set with at least a mangan.

Two turns later, Mizuhara draws the red 5p and wins the hand. Mizuhara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Red Dragon/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000 plus one riichi stick.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2547

In E3-0, Mizuhara is now just 5,500 behind 1st place Sugawara.

Mizuhara starts out the hand 2-shanten with a secured red 5s. In the first row, she shapes her hand to a potential 123 sanshoku. By the end of the row, she is iishanten and needs a 2m and a 3p to complete it.

Across from her, 4th place Takaki is also iishanten, looking to go for seven pairs. Near the end of the row, Takaki is the first to tenpai, throwing the white dragon and calling riichi on a 5p tanki.

On Mizuhara’s next turn, she draws the 3p and waits dama on a 2m kanchan. On Takaki’s turn, he draws the white dragon, a missed opportunity at an ippatsu win.

On her next draw, Mizuhara gets the 4m. Forgoing the sanshoku for a better wait, Mizuhara, throws the 1m and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. Within the ippatsu round, Takaki draws and discards the 2m, dealing into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Aka 1 for 8,000 plus a riichi stick.

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Dora

January 20, Game 1, E4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p6083

In E4-0, Sugawara is now the dealer in 2nd place, 3,500 behind 1st place Mizuhara.

Sugawara starts out the hand pairing up the north dora, moving her to 2-shanten. Just a turn later, she creates a 369s three-sided wait to get to iishanten. At the end of the first row, Sugawara draws a fourth 6p and calls a concealed kan. With the flip, her 5s becomes the new dora. What’s more, her rinshan draw is the red 5s double dora for added value.

In the middle of the second row, Sugawara draws the 9s and calls riichi on a 1s/north shanpon. Two turns later, Sugawara gets the north and wins the hand. Sugawara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 4/Aka 1 for 6,000 all, taking the lead.

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Yakuman Tenpai!?!

January 20, Game 1, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5605

In S4-0, Mizuhara is in 2nd place and 26,000 behind 1st place dealer Sugawara. The realistic objective is to simply win this hand and maintain her 2nd place position. However, the dream of a sanbaiman or a yakuman win for 1st place is always possible.

From the start, Mizuhara is at 4-shanten with a floating 5m dora and a pair of green dragons. Nothing much, but the green dragon pair can give her a path to a faster hand.

Early on, Mizuhara pairs up the white dragon and calls pon on the green dragon. To keep the single red dragon in her hand for a potential big hand, Mizuhara tosses the 5m dora. Over the next few turns, Mizuhara makes the white dragon a triplet and the red dragon into a pair. If she can call pon on that red dragon, she can have a potential yakuman. However, only one remains in the wall.

Near the end of the second row, Mizuhara completes a 456s sequence and gets to a 5p kanchantenpai. Though it isn’t a yakuman, she is ready with shousangen and still has a chance to make the red dragon into a triplet.

In the third row, 3rd place Ooi draws the last red dragon. Sitting iishanten and mangan range of Mizuhara, Ooi pushes it allowing Mizuhara to call pon.

Discarding the 4p, Mizuhara is now tenpai for daisangen, waiting on the 6p. If Mizuhara wins this one, it will be only the second yakuman in Pirates history, joining Asakura’s daisangen in the 2019-20 finals.

One winning 6p remains in the wall.

On her next draw, she switches to a north tanki. A single north remain in the wall.

A north also remains in Takaki’s hand as well. On his next draw, he has a chance to be tenpai. However, taking it will mean discarding the north and dealing into his second daisangen in the span of a week.

But Takaki does not take the tenpai and avoids the dreaded daisangen deal-in!

In the end, the hand goes to a draw with Mizuhara and Ooi tenpai.

And then Takaki realizes what just happened.

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Results

Game 137

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Game 2

Beast Mode

January 20, Game 2

In E2-0, Daisuke is the dealer in 1st place, trying to continue both his and his team’s good fortunes.

Daisuke starts out with a 3-shanten hand and a bunch of kanchans. To his left Daigo has two red fives and five pairs, putting him already one away. It only takes two more turns for Daigo to get to tenpai and call riichi on a green dragon tanki. Unfortunately, all of them are stuck in the hands of other players.

Though Daisuke doesn’t know it, the runway is clear for him to push. Though the red of the first row, he creates a triplet of red dragons and a pair of easts to get to 2-shanten.

In the second row, he creates a triplet of 2m and tries to shift to a manzu honitsu.

At the start of the third row, he draws a third east to create a triplet, putting him sanankou iishanten. On his very next draw, he gets a 4s. Though it ends the honitsu push, it guarantees him sanankou, puts him to tenpai on a 58m ryanmen and gives him a chance at a suuankou if he can make one more triplet.

Two turns later, Yu discards the 8m and deals into Daisuke. Daisuke wins with Double East/Sanankou/Red Dragon for 12,000.

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In E2-1, Daisuke starts out 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons. Though calling the green dragon would be nice, it seems to be stuck in his hand as the pair since one green dragon is already being used as the dora indicator. In the first row, he builds the sequences in his hand and gets to a ryanmen-ryanmen iishanten at the end of the first row.

When the green dragon comes out in the second row, Daisuke simply lets it pass by. Near the end of the row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.

Immediately after, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m kanchan.

Near the end of the hand, on Daisuke’s second-last draw, he gets the 5s and wins the hand. WIth the green dragon pair becoming the uradora, Daisuke wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Ura 2 for 4,000+100 all plus one riichi stick.

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Daigo

January 20, Game 2

In E3-0, Daigo is in 3rd place, 9000 behind 2nd place Shiratori.

With his very first draw, Daigo is 2-shanten with tanyao almost guaranteed. On turn 3, he creates a 147p three-sided wait. On turn 4, he fills in a 7m kanchan to guarantee pinfu. On turn 5, he completes a 234m sequence to get to tenpai and calls riichi on the 147p wait. Seven of his waits remain in the wall.

As his opponents tread carefully, they manage to get to weak tenpais. Near the end of the second row, a call by Yu puts him to tenpai on a red dragon/5p shanpon, only allowed to win on the dora red dragon. Soon after Daisuke gets to tenpai on a red dragon tanki, but lacks a yaku.

In the middle of the third row, Daigo draws the 4p and wins the hand. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Ura 1 for 2,000/4,000, moving into 2nd place.

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Jumping to S1-1, Diago starts out 3-shanten with a connected red 5s and a red 5m. In the first row, Daigo fills in a 6s kanchan to secure the red 5s and draws a 6m to secure the red 5m, getting him to iishanten.

In the middle of the second row, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m/white dragon wait. During the ippatsu round, Yu (who is at exactly 0) discards the 7m and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Aka 2 for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick.

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Phoenix Rising

Januayr 20, Game 2, S4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4596

In S4-1, Daigo is in 3rd place and just 3,600 from finishing in 1st. With two riichi sticks and a honba in the middle, Daigo can win anything more than a 1/40 hand and take 1st place.

Daigo starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a secured red 5m, not needing to worry about value at all. On turn 2, he draws a pair of 3p to get to iishanten. On turn 5, he makes a triplet of 9p, giving him a chance at tenpai. He chooses to reject the 9s/3p shanpon and looks for something better.

On Daigo’s very next turn, he is rewarded with a perfect 4p draw for tenpai. Daigo calls riichi and waits on the wide 258p three-sided wait. Nine winning tiles await in the wall.

During the ippatsu round, Shiratori discards the 2p and deals into Daigo. WIth the 9m pair in his hand becoming the uradora, Daigo wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Dora 1/Ura 2 for 8,000+300 plus two riichi sticks, finishing in 1st place.

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Results

Game 138

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