Standings
(Like every year, I will go through the standings order for the final week.)
The top team this regular season is the Akasaka Drivens. The Akasaka Drivens have had a record-breaking season. All four of their players are in the Top 9 of the individual standings a feat that is almost unheard of. They tie the M-League record for most 1sts in a regular season of 34. The team finishes the season with +1115.5pts, smashing the previous record by more than +200.0pts. Plus, they had Sonoda winning Thirteen Orphans on their final day. They have made quite a name for themselves as they go into the semifinals in the lead and 3 million yen richer.
Next is the U-Next Pirates. Their performance this regular season is the best ever for a defending champion. Their 2nd place result of 481.2pts this season is better than the top teams in the 2018-19 and the 2021-22 seasons. They only have 19 4ths, tying the Akasaka Drivens. The team goes into the semifinals looking to break the champion’s curse and make it into the finals.
The Sega Sammy Phoenix take 3rd spot. It came down to the wire, but they did it. In the final game, Daigo needed to win the game and was 20,500 behind 1st dealer Hisato going into the final hand. With an incredible baiman tsumo, he not only took the game, but also gave him the MVP award (the first Phoenix MVP award since Uotani Yuumi in th 2019-20 season) and took the team into 3rd place overall. The team looks to keep it going and make their way into the finals.
Team Raiden takes 4th place in the team standings. This is Team Raiden’s best season yet. It is their first positive season in team history, and it was a big one with a +330.3pts finish. They also had only 19 4ths, the same number of 4ths as the top team Akasaka Drivens and the fewest in team history (even fewer than their very first season when they only played 80 games). They currently sit in the final finals spot going into the semis, so they will have to work hard to defend it and advace to their second-ever finals.
In 5th place is the Konami Mahjong FIght Club. The season took a bit of a downturn around the midway point, but the team managed to hang on and finish the season strong and in the positives with +208.0pts. The fight for the MVP award was very close, but Hisato was passed at the very last second to end up finishing 2nd place in the game, just missing out on the MVP award. The team sits just outside a spot in the finals, but they will have the whole semifinals to fight for it.
In 6th place and taking the final playoff spot is the Shibuya Abemas. Things got a bit hairy towards the end of the season, but a strong performance by Shiratori kept the team above. With Shiratori’s 2in last week, he ties the M-League record for most wins by a single player. Taking 2nds in the final week, he finished 2nd overall in the indvidual standings. In the 4th Avoidance category, Hinata remained the only player with only a single 4th, giving her the award. The Shibuya Abemas maybe be behind the rest of the pack by quite a bit, but anything can happen in the semifinals and undedogs have had a history of doing well in the playoffs.
Finishing in 7th place with a score of -413.9pts and just outside of a playoff spot is the Kadokawa Sakura Knights. The team fought like crazy until the very end. On Tuesday, Uchikawa won the first game of the week handily. In the second game, Okada eneded up just barely holding on and got her first win of the season after many difficult months. Things looked like they were going to go their way on Thursday, but Shiratori’s sudden jump to 2nd place ended up weakening Shibukawa’s 1st place. And when Hori ended up in 3rd place in their final game, they knew it was over. They will have to playoff and the offseason to figure out what went wrong and train for next season.
The EX Furinkazan finish 8th and out of a playoff spot as well. They were down for almost the entire season. Things looked like they could go their way at the 2/3rds point of the season, but they ended up dropping almost -500.0pts in the final third. Katsumata was unable to get any good wins (besides the yakuma last week) and ended up the season with a very uncharacteristic -242.1pts. Rumi (who also had a yakuman) and Matsugase also ended up with triple-digit negatives as the team finished with -751.3pts, their worst score in team history. They have a few months to see where they go from here.
And finally, in 9th place with a score of -1143.6pts, we have the Beast X. Nothing went right for the team. They dropped and dropped and dropped, falling to -below -1000.0pts after just 56 games. They tried to recover as much as possible to save face, but they ended up losing almost -300.0pts in the last two weeks. In they end, they hit the team’s all-time low. because they failed to make the playoffs last year witht he same roster, they will be forced to change their roster next season. They have a bit of time to decide who to drop and who they will pick up next.
Individual Awards
MVP Award
+438.6pts
Highest Hanchan
91,300
4th Avoidance
95.00%
With Daigo’s final hand comeback, he takes the MVP award just two years into his M-League career. It is also Daisuke’s second season and a yakuman helped him get this highest hanchan. And for Hinata, she bested her 3rd place result in the 2022-23 season to now be 1st place in the 4th avoidance category, the first female player to win this award.
And that’s all for the regular season! We’ll take a week off, then be right back at it with the semifinals! 9 teams started the regular season, 6 teams remain at the end of it. How will these six teams fare in the semifinals? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see! See you April 7!
Intro | Standings
M-League Watch 