Monday (March 10)

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Game 1

Setokuma Start

March 10, Game 1, E1-0

In E1-0, Setokuma is playing for Team Raiden, trying to get the team back above +100.0pts.

Setokuma start out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5p for value. The first row him with a pair of white dragons and an extra pair to get to iishanten. In the middle of the second row, Setokuma forms a 789m sequence to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a white dragon/6s shanpon, wanting the dragon for extra value.

Immediately after, Futoshi discards the white dragon trying to keep his iishanten and deals into Setokuma. Setokuma wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/White Dragon/Aka 1 for 8,000.

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Bounce Back

March 10, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Futoshi is the dealer in 4th place after dealing into a mangan in the first hand.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a connected dora 5p. The first row provides Futoshi with a pair of red dragons, giving him an option to open and speed up his hand. At the end of the row, he makes the bold move of calling pon on the 9s, even before getting the red dragons. With the pon, Futoshi gets to 2-shanten.

In the second row, he draws a red 5p and gets himself to iishanten, but the red dragon is still hanging as a pair.

In the middle of the third row, Futoshi creates a 567p sequence and gets to tenpai on a 1m/red dragon shanpon, only allowed to win on the red dragon.

With Futoshi’s discarded 5p dora, Hinata calls a 456p and gets to tenpai on a 36m ryanmen, guaranteed a mangan if she wins.

Just two turns later, Futoshi draws the red dragon and wins the hand. Futoshi wins with Red Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,600 all.

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Hinata

March 10, Game 1, S3-0

In S3-0, Hinata is in 3rd place and just 900 ahead of 4th place Futoshi. With a perfect record, Hinata needs to increase her score and separate herself from 4th place.

Hinata starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a green dragon triplet and a floating 3m dora. The first row provides shapes everywhere, except for near the 3m dora. By turn 5, Hinata discards the 3m to simply be more efficient. By the end of the row, she is 2-shanten.

In the second row, she draws a red 5m to create a 567m sequence and a 6s to create a 678s sequence. With that, Hinata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen. Two turns later, she draws the 9p and wins the hand. Hinata wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Green Dragon/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, instantly moving her up to 2nd place.

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Futoshi Fighting

March 10, Game 1

In S3-1, Futoshi is in 4th place, 12,900 behind 3rd place Mizuhara and 16,900 behind 2nd place dealer Hinata. With no dealership left, Futoshi effectively only has two hands left to overcome the gap.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a connected 2s dora and a connected red 5s. In the first row, Futoshi forms a 456s sequence to get to iishanten, still left with a 3s penchan and a 58m ryanmen.

At the start of the second row, Futoshi draws a 5m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3s penchan.

Though three 3s remain in the wall, none of them seem to be coming. In the meantime, Mizuhara pushes a pinzu honitsu. Through the second row, she also adds toitoi to the hand and eventually gets to a 6p/8p shanpon, guaranteed a haneman if she wins.

However, with every draw, things start to get more dangerous. On her second-last turn, she gets the 1s. Being close to the dora and having only one more draw herself, she decides to fold.

On Hinata’s last turn, she draws the 3s. With a bunch of pinzu in her hand (which appears dangerous against Mizuhara) and a bunch of other dangerous tiles, Hinata decides to discard the suji 3s and deals into Futoshi. Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 5,200+300.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2118

In S4-0, Futoshi now 5,900 behind 3rd place Hinata and 7,400 behind 2nd place Mizuhara. If Futoshi can get a mangan, he will move up to 2nd. With something smaller like a 3/40 or 4/20 tsumo, or a 3-han direct hit off either, he will get at least 3rd.

Futoshi starts out the hand at 2-shanten and heavily leaning towards a Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao route. If he can gett all of them, he would be set. He just needs to find a pair and not get the 1p on the 147p three-sided wait.

On turn 4, Futoshi draws a 7p, likely confirming tanyao and getting to iishanten. On turn 5, he pairs up the 5s and calls riichi on a 25m ryanmen. As long as he doesn’t hit Setokuma directly, he will be guaranteed at least 3rd place.

Then, at the very end of the second row, Futoshi draws the 2m and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, his 5s and instantly upgrades his hand to a haneman! Futoshi wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Ura 2 for 3,000/6,000, ending the game in 2nd.

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Results

Game 193

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Game 2

Warrior

March 10, Game 2, E2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5617

In E2-1, Yu is the dealer in 3rd place, 3,100 behind 2nd place Shiratori and 11,100 behind 1st place Hagiwara.

Yu starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a pair of green dragons as the only potential value. In the first few turns, Pirates fans were disappointed as they saw Taro pick up the other two green dragons, ending the chance at yakuhai. However, things do end up looking positive as Yu makes a triplet of 1s and fills in a 4p kanchan, getting to a perfect iishanten before the row is done.

Two turns into the second row, Yu draws a red 5m for value and tenpai. he calls riichi and waits on a 58s ryanmen.

After quite a lot of waiting, Yu finally gets the 8s on the second-last tile of the wall and wins the hand. With the uradora flip, Yu’s 1s triplet suddenly becomes dora and doubles his hand’s han value. Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Aka 1/Ura 3 for a big 6,000+100 all, easily moving up to 1st.

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Hagiwara

March 10, Game 2, E4-1

In E4-1, Hagiwara is in 2nd place and 6,100 behind 1st place Yu. Two riichi sticks and a honba sit in the pot.

With Hagiwara’s first draw, he gets to five pairs, just one pair away from getting to tenpai. With a red 5s as part of a pair and a pair of dora 6p, Hagiwara has really strong value. All he has to do is wait.

Unfortunately, none of the tiles seem to want to pair up. While Hagiwara waits and waits, his opponents build and build. Taro calls pon on the white dragon, Shiratori calls a concealed kan on the 3s and Yu advances with his closed hand. In the middle fo the second row, Yu is the first to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen.

Luckily for Hagiwara, he has enough stray honours and safe tile draws to continue pushing his hand. At the end of the second row, Hagiwara finally gets his sixth pair and gets to tenpai on a south tanki, being tenpai for at least a mangan.

In the third row, Taro calls a 567s chii and gets to tenpai on a 5p/8p shanpon.

On Yu’s turn, he draws and discards the south and deals into Hagiwara. Hagiwara wins the hand with Chiitoi/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000+300 plus three riichi sticks, taking Hagiwara up to 1st place.

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Zeus

March 10, Game 2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2119

In S1-0, Taro is the dealer in 4th place, 10,100 behind 3rd place Shiratori. If Taro wants to make a comeback, now is his time.

With Taro’s first draw, he is 2-shanten with a secured red 5s and a a floating 2p dora and red 5p. His shapes strengthen quite early in the hand, allowing Taro to discard the 2p dora with fewer consequences. On turn 4, he discards the 3m to take iishanten.

On turn 5, Taro pairs up the red 5p and leaves him with a 579m block needing to be resolved. On his next turn, he draws the 4m, an annoying draw considering the 3m discard earlier. At the end of the row, he completes a 345s sequence and calls riichi on a 36m, even though it’s furiten. At any rate, he will be guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.

A few turns later, Shiratori chases and calls riichi on an 8m kanchan, even when he has no other value in his hand.

At the end of the row, even more trouble arises as Yu makes a 567p chii to confirm a mangan and waits on a south tanki.

After about a 30 seconds of tension, Taro is finally relieved as he draws the 6m and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 2 for 4,000 all, moving up to 3rd.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2120

In S1-1, Taro is now just 4,100 behind 2nd place Yu and 18,600 behind 1st place Hagiwara.

With Taro’s very first draw, he is iishanten and already holds a secured red 5p and a dora 3p. With pairs of 9m, 5p and green dragon, he just has to make two of them into triplets to win the hand.

On turn 2, Taro draws a third 9m to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 5p/green dragon shanpon. Immediately after, Hagiwara discards the green dragon and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Green Dragon/Aka 1 for 12,000+300, a big hand to move into 1st place before the table is even done shuffling.

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Hagiwara

March 10, Game 2

In S2-0, Hagiwara is in 3rd place, 1,000 behind 2nd place dealer Yu and 9,200 behind 1st place Taro.

Hagiwara starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured dora 3p and leaning towards tanyao and pinfu. The first row gives Hagiwara a bunch of ryanmens, but not much in terms of a secured pair. Even with that seems like good progress, he is still 3-shanten at the end of the row.

After forming a sequence and making a three-sided 258p wait in pinzu, Hagiwara finally gets his 2s pair in the middle of the second row and gets to iishanten. A turn later, Hagiwara draws the 8p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen.

Two turns later, Hagiwara draws the 7m and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1 for 2,000/4,000, enough for 1st place.

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In S3-0, Hagiwara (who is now the dealer) starts out with a slightly messy 3-shanten hand, but he does have a pair of easts that can speed up his hand. The first row does provide him with ryanmen shapes, but it doesn’t get him closer to tenpai.

Across from him, 2nd place Taro wants to take back his position in top spot. With a 345m chii Taro gets to tenpai on a 7s kanchan.

Within a few turns, Shiratori’s Junchan/Sanshoku hand starts to take shape. As he discards the east to take iishanten, Hagiwara calls pon to get to 2-shanten. In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara gets to iishanten.

The first of the two to get to tenpai is Shiratori, who calls riichi on a 2m kanchan and guarantees himself at least a haneman if he wins.

Within the go-around, Hagiwara calls a 456m chii and gets to tenpai on an 8p kanchan, a tile safe against Shiratori. On Hagiwara’s very next draw, he gets the 8p and wins the hand. Hagiwara wins with East/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000 all plus a riichi stick.

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Shiratori

March 10, Game 2

In S3-1, Shiratori is in 4th place and 7,800 behind 3rd place Yu. With the team in 6th place and dangerously close to dropping out of a playoff spot, Shiratori needs to get points now.

Shiratori starts out with a decent 3-shanten with a red 5m as part of a 5m triplet. Within the first few turns, Shiratori pairs up a 7p to get to 2-shanten. Near the end of the row, Shiratori has a chance to take iishanten with a 7s kanchan shape, but decides to stay 2-shanten since two of the 7s have already been discarded.

In the second row, he instead creates a 14s ryanmen shape. A turn later, Shiratori gets to tenpai and calls riichi on the 14s ryanmen wait. Within two turns, Taro discards the 1s trying to call riichi and deals into Shiratori. Getting an uradora, Shiratori wins the hand with Riichi/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 5,200+300.

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Though Shiratori is still 4th going into S4-0, he is now the dealer, just 2,300 behind 3rd place Yu and 7,000 behind 2nd place Taro.

Shiratori starts out by pairing up the white dragon, joining the connected dora 4s for potential value. However, he is 4-shanten and has a bit of work to do in order to claim those value benefits. In the first row he pairs up the 4s for value, then makes the decision to call a 567s chii at the end of the row before he has the white dragon triplet. Sitting at 2-shanten, the hand now hinges completely on getting that white dragon triplet.

At the start o fthe second row, he completes a 456m sequence for iishanten. A turn later, he completes a 123p sequence and gets to tenpai on a 4s/white dragon shanpon. Only the white dragon will let him win.

As Shiratori waits, 3rd place Yu tries to rush his own hand, which is geared for tanyao and has a dora 4s and a red 5s. WIth a 456s chii, he gets to iishanten. At the end of the row, he calls an 8s pon and gets to tenpai on a 3p/3m shanpon. If he can draw it himself or get a direct hit off Taro, he will have 2nd place.

It’s a battle between Shiratori and Yu. Then, in the third row, Yu draws and discards the white dragon and deals into Shiratori. Shiratori wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 2 for 5,800, enough to move up to 2nd place.

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Taro Time

March 10, Game 2, S4-1

In S4-1, Taro is in 2nd place and 15,300 behind 1st place Hagiwara. If Taro wants the big prize, he needs a mangan direct hit, a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron.

Incredibly, Taro has a pair of dora 5s in his starting hand, including the red 5s to set him up with at least mangan. Though, his hand is still a bit behind at 4-shanten. After dudding on the second turn, he draws a third 5s on his next draw, making a triplet and adding value.

With every draw, Taro’s hand seems to be getting better and better. On turn 7, he fills in a 5m kanchan to get to a perfect iishanten. A turn later, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen. If he hits Hagiwara or draws it himself, he will take 1st place.

However, he will not go unchallenged. To his right, Yu is trying to do everything to get out a 4th, needing a mangan direct hit or tsumo to escape. In the middle of the second row, Yu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69m ryanmen. Needing the 6m for tanyao, he needs to draw it himself or hit either Taro or Shiratori with one more han to escape 4th.

Also in the mix is Hagiwara. Having already called twice, Hagiwara is too deep in to back out of his chinitsu push. At the end of the row, he gets to tenpai on a 58m ryanmen. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall.

Then, at the start of the third row, Taro draws the 3p and wins the hand. With a Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 3/Aka 1 win for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus a riichi stick, Taro wins the game and takes the team up to a new league record of +1124.6pts.

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Results

Game 194

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