M-League 2024-25 Semifinals: The Teams

The semifinals are starting next week on Monday, April 7! Today, we’ll take a look at the teams that will be advancing to the semis and figure out what they will need to do to succeed.

1st: Akasaka Drivens

Regular Season: +1115.5pts (34/25/18/19)

The Akasaka Drivens started the 2023-24 season with a new roster and two new players. With their newfound energy, the team climbed up to 2nd place overall at the end of the season, their best results since the very first season of M-League. With these good results, the team kept their roster.

After a bit of a hiccup at the start of the season, the team went full steam ahead, winning game after game after game. In their fifth week, they earned +175.8pts to put the team above +200.0pts and into 2nd place overall. Through mid-November, they were breaking barrier after barrier after barrier. +300.0pts. +400.0pts. +500.0pts. +600.0pts. By the mid-season, they were at +771.2pts with a 39.58% 1st place rate.

Into January, the team just kept going. By the end of January 14, the team broke the Pirates’ old record of +887.6pts and broke through the +900.0pts barrier, finishing the day at +905.7pts.

It wasn’t just one player who was dominating the standings. All four of the Drivens players were doing well, all of them near the top of the standings. At one point, 3rd place, 4th place, 5th place and 6th place were all populated by the Drivens, any one of them could become the MVP.

Fans sat in eager anticipation to see if they would finally break +1000.0pts. With each 1st and 2nd place, the team kept breaking records. However, the team began to stall. The team got close, but they could not break the barrier. On January 21, they hit +984.2pts before falling down. On January 31, they got to as close at +997.2pts, but they could not make that final push.

Through much of February, the team began to slide. After a double 4th on February 10, they went all the way down to +843.2pts, dropping down to a recent low of +827.2pts after the first game on February 25.

Going into February 28, 2025, the team was at +888.7pts. Up to bat first was Taro. Taking the lead from the very start and winning 5/11 of the hands that game, Taro handily won his game with 53,100 (+73.1), taking the team up to +961.8pts, yet again tenpai for the big +1000.0pts. They just needed to win one more. Going into the south round, Futoshi was tied for last place in his game. Then, with a decisive open hand and a mangan, he climbed up to 1st place. It was close in the very last hand, but Futoshi managed to hold onto 1st place by 300. With the win, the Akasaka Drivens were at +1011.9pts, the very first team to break +1000.0pts.

But they didn’t stop there! On March 11, a 1st place by Taro put them at +1124.6pts, the first team to break +1100.0pts. On March 17, the team got another daily double, which included a win by Sonoda put him at the top of the individual standings. Unfortunately, he was unable to stay at the top and his MVP chances were gone when Shiratori passed Sonoda on the team’s final day. Still, the team finishes the season with an incredible +1115.5pts result.

Going Into The Semifinals: +557.8pts

By the numbers, this is the greatest team roster in the history of M-League. From the looks of it, they are going to win the championship. However, one enemy stands in their way: math.

Between every stage of the playoffs, each team’s point total is cut in half. For the Akasaka Drivens, this means that their +1115.5pts is now down to +557.8pts. This also means that their lead over 2nd place, even though it still remains more than double, will be reduced down to just +317.2pts.

The lead of the Akasaka Drivens is still big, but it doesn’t mean that they’re out of the woods. With this reduction and the reduction still to come between the semifinals and the finals, the Akasaka Drivens need to make sure that they maintain and keep adding to their lead, removing any chance for any team to catch up. The U-Next Pirates almost lost their 1st place status after the EX Furinkazan gained more than 500.0pts in the semifinals last season. The same could happen to the Akasaka Drivens.

The whole Drivens team has really shown their strength this season, so I don’t see a reason to change up who they send. The positive momentum that Sonoda has after winning that kokushi and winning the final game could push him to even greater heights.

2nd: U-Next Pirates

Regular Season: +481.2pts (28/27/22/19)

The U-Next Pirates finished the 2023-24 season with new records and their second championship, the first team in league history to win twice. With their strength, the team kept their roster.

The first five weeks for the U-Next Pirates were a bit of a bumpy ride for the team, with their first game giving a big negative and then negated by a good positive immediately after. From their, the team rose up to above +100.0pts in the 3rd week and hit -50.0pts in the 4th and 5th weeks.

When they raised their head above water at the end of the 6th week, they never went to the depths again. In late October, they had their first daily double of the season and went up from 5th to 3rd. From there, it was a battle between them and the Konami Mahjong Fight Club for 3rd place, both teams going higher and higher, switching spots between the two of them.

Then, on Weeks 12 and 13, the U-Next Pirates had a big gain to break +400.0pts and the Konami Mahjong Fight Club dropped to near +100.0pts, solidifying the U-Next Pirates’ position as a top contender and challenging the Sega Sammy Phoenix for 2nd place. On December 24, the team hit a season high of +472.1pts.

From there, though, things started to drop. For 12 straight games, the U-Next Pirates were unable to get a 1st place, going on a 0/3/4/5 run and losing -307.4pts in the span of about a month. Even though they still remained in 3rd place, they were slipping further and further away from the top two teams.

On January 23, Kobayashi started the day for the U-Next Pirates. Kobayashi started the game with a dealer mangan and never looked back. By the end of the game, he won with 41,200 (+61.2pts) and got the team’s first win in almost a month. During the next game, Nakabayashi did much of the same, taking the lead from the very first hand and kept it, finishing his game with 40,100 (+60.1pts) to get the team a daily double.

With the result, the team had some newfound energy. On January 30, Yu won his game with 68,800 for a lucky +88.8pts gain, moving the team back above +400.0pts. After a 4th place by the Phoenix on February 6, the Pirates were in 2nd place in the overall standings, breaking the top 2 stronghold after months of their domination. Within two weeks, the Pirates broke +500.0pts and on March 9, the team got to their peak of +574.1pts.

Over the next couple of days, the team dropped by almost 200.0pts to +390.0pts, but had a slight rebound to go back up to +539.7pts.

In the end, the team finished in 2nd place overall with a score of +481.2pts.

Going Into The Semifinals: +240.6pts

Though it doesn’t match last season, the U-Next Pirates are having an great season. They have the most wins in a single season aside from last season, they have the most points in a single season aside from last season.

Going into the semifinals, they are in a good spot. However, the big thing that is different is the shift in minimums. Instead of being in the top 6, they now have to be in the top 4. By the end of the regular season, they were 895.1pts away from 7th place (the elimination rank). Now, at the start of the semifinals, the Pirates are now away 136.6pts from the border, which is much, much closer. They must keep this in mind for the entire duration of the semifinals.

Of course, they will want to chip away at the Akasaka Drivens’ incredible lead. Having fewer teams means more opportunities to challenge them face to face. 1sts in every game is always the goal, but if they can place above the Akasaka Drivens in every game as the bare minimum, that lead will be chipped away and will put the U-Next Pirates in a better position going into the finals.

Aside from Kobayashi, all of the Pirates players have done fairly well. If the team is a bit more desparate for points, it may be wise to let Kobayashi rest since his open style of playing doesn’t get too many points.

In terms of prefered players during the semifinals, Nakabayashi and Yu have gotten positive results in all of their playoff runs, while Mizuhara has gotten negative results in all of her semifinals appearances.

---

3rd: Sega Sammy Phoenix

Regular Season: +339.8pts (26/26/19/25)

After the Sega Sammy Phoenix finished in 9th place during the 2023-24 regular season with their worst result yet of -625.1pts, the team decided to drop Tojo Rio and team captain Uotani Yuumi from the team. Replacing them were Takeuchi Genta and Asai Takaki, both players who had previously won their respective league’s top title.

From the very start, the team showed the sheer strength of their newcomers, going eight straight weeks with positive results. By the end of October, just 23 games into their regular season, the team was already above +400.0pts and almost 250.0pts above 2nd place.

Heading towards the mid-season, things started to get a bit volatile. In Week 11, the team had a strong performance to earn them +122.3pts, putting them just below +500.0pts. A week after, they went -98.8pts to drop below +400.0pts. After that, they were the best performers of Week 13 with +70.2pts. With a few more gains, the team reached mid-season with a score of +538.5pts.

A bit of volatility continued from there. One week, they would win +79.2pts. The next, they go -78.3pts. Their gains and losses kept them around +500.0pts and staying in 2nd place and just above the Pirates.

Week 17 was a bit of a strange one. The week started out with a good 1st place by Daigo for the first game on Monday. Then, in the second game, fans witnessed Takaki dealing into a daisangen yakuman just a few hands after Daisuke got a chombo. Takaki was unable to recover from it and ended with a -15,800 4th place, quite a blow for someone in their first season. However, the team managed to recover some points at the end of the week to finish out net positive.

Unfortunately, some pain would follow from there. Through the end of the January, the team dropped points and moved below +500.0pts. On January 20, there was a point where Takaki nearly dealt into another daisangen. At the start of February, they had their worst result of the season, getting three 4ths and going -148.4pts to drop down to around +300.0pts and below the U-Next Pirates.

From there some recover efforts were made. Just two weeks later, they would gain +150.9pts, their best week of the season. This effort was headed by Kayamori and Daigo, getting 85,700 and 88,800 wins, respectively. With the results, the team remained competitive with the U-Next Pirates, the two teams switching back and forth between 2nd and 3rd place.

As the end of the season approached, they started to slowly drop and fall further from the top two. However, as that happened, the fight the MVP award got hotter. Both Genta and Daigo were within range of the top spot, the two of them being among the top 3 for a few weeks. With the slight slide and some rising stars, their position at the top was challenged by many competitors.

On the second-last day, both Sonoda and Shiratori went above the two Phoenix contenders, putting pressure on them to do well on the final day. In the first game, Genta was unable to make any progress against the dominant Hisato, putting Genta essentially out of contention and Hisato within a 1st place of taking the title.

In the final game, it was a battle between Daigo and Hisato. Whichever of the two finished in 1st place would take the title of MVP. Through almost the entire game, Hisato dominated. Going into the final hand, Hisato had a 19,400 lead over Daigo and had the advantage of being the final dealer. Then, in an incredible turnaround, Daigo managed to get a huge Riichi/Tsumo/Honitsu/Sanankou/North/White Dragon for a 4,000/8,000 baiman, just enough to finish the game in 1st place and become the league’s newest MVP!

With that final game, the Sega Sammy Phoenix ended the season in 3rd place with a score of +339.8pts and a 26/26/19/25 record.

Going Into The Semifinals: +169.9pts

The players this season seem to be at two different extremes. At one end, both Daigo and Genta are within the top 5, with +438.6pts and +339.8pts, respectively. On the other end, Takaki and Kayamori and in the bottom third of the league, being -215.3pts and -223.3pts, respectively.

This will be the first opportunity for Daigo, Genta and Takaki to play in the playoffs. Though they may be untested, all of them have won their respective leagues’ highest title, so they know how to function in high-pressure situations.

If we ignore Takaki’s dealer daisangen deal-in, the Phoenix have a very low average deal-in value. Combined with their high average hand value and better than average win rate, they are en route to get good gains during these semifinals.

They will have to watch out for just how close the standings are. Currently, a 4th place could put them out of a playoff spot. With a 40.0pts oka/uma difference between 1st and 2nd place, and a 20.0pts uma difference for the ranks after that, they will have to be conscious of the importance of game placement as well.

---

4th: Team Raiden

Regular Season: +330.3pts (25/28/24/19)

Even though the team wanted to better their team-best result of 3rd place in the 2022-23 season, the team ended up with a -484.5pts flop last season to be eliminated early. The team decided to keep their roster, knowing that they will be forced to change if they don’t make the playoffs this season.

For quite a lot of the season, the team bounced between +100.0pts and -100.0pts, spending more time in the negatives. When they would have good gains, they would loose about the same soon after. When they would get close to -100.0pts, they would end up getting a win to bounce away from it. Week after week after week, this annoying cycle continued. At the end of Week 19, they were at +5.9pts.

At the start of Week 20, a solid 50,900 1st place by Kurosawa brought the team to a season high of +76.8pts. A 2nd place after that put them to another high of +73.2pts. They had a 4th place on Friday to drop them a bit, but a 1st place right after got them to yet another high of +81.4pts.

In the 1st game of February 11, a close 1st place by Setokuma got the team another win and got the team to +134.0pts, the first time this season that the team has broke +100.0pts.

Unfortunately things went downhill from there. Over the next two weeks, the team ended up losing points in every game they played. At the end of Week 22, they were down to their lowest score of the season with -93.0pts.

From that point on, Team Raiden went on an incredible upswing. Over their next few game days, they managed to win the first game in every one. Many of those 1sts were followed by a 2nd place, helping them rise and rise and rise. They went back above 0.0pts on March 3, hith a new record of +148.8pts a week later, then broke +300.0pts on March 14, the highest the team has ever gotten in its history. They didn’t stop there, continuing to win the first game of each day. By the end of the day on March 21, Team Raiden was at +419.1pts. In about the span of a month, the team earned a total of more than +500.0pts.

On the team’s final day, two unfortunate 4ths by Hagiwara meant that they dropped back down, but they still finish with a team record of 4th place overall and with a record score of +330.3pts.

Going Into The Semifinals: +165.2pts

Though much of the season was relatively unremarkable, the final month of the season was truly incredible. They are hitting records that they have never hit before. All they have to do is maintain this momentum and they can head to the finals for the second time in team history

The team is currently occupying the final finals spot and 5th place is right at their heels, just 61.2pts behind them. With such a tight fight, they will need to watch out.

Setokuma, Honda and Kurosawa are all positive this season. One of the things that have been noticeable this season is Kurosawa’s calling. With the increased amount of calling, she has managed to get her first positive season since the 2020-21 season. If she can continue to get these good results, she will start to gain more points for the team as well.

Hagiwara was doing such a good job until the team’ final day when he got 4th place in both games. Though we could ignore it and say that Hagiwara is doing well, we could also interpret it as Hagiwara failing to meet the moment in an intense situation (in this case, trying to work against the MVP battle at the table). The semifinals are about as intense as those moments. Hagiwara will need to be able to adjust if he want to gain points for the team.

---

5th: Konami Mahjong Fight Club

Regular Season: +208.0pts (25/26/23/22)

The Konami Mahjong Fight Club did relatively well in the regular season with a positive score and Date having the best 4th avoidance rate, but the team ended up dropping quite a bit in the semifinals and ended up 6th place with -279.0pts, their worst result in team history. Still, the team still has a good bond and general strong performance. With this in mind, the team kept its roster going into this season.

The team had an incredible start, going their first day with a daily double, breaking +100.0pts in their first day. In their second day, a 2nd and a 1st place pushed them to +213.2pts. From there, though, they dropped a bit and bounced around +150.0pts and +50.0pts. In Weeks 9 and 10, they had some big gains to go above +300.0pts, but started falling quite a bit from there. Just past mid-December, they were almost back to 0.0pts, but a big rebound let them finish 2024 with +223.1pts.

Then began another fall. On January 7, a double 4th place (including Hisato’s worst result ever of -21,200) dropped the team -132.0pts. With another -56.8pts drop on the Friday, the team had their worst weekly result of the season. With some more dropping, the team went into the negatives for the first time this season and hit a low of -91.1pts on January 24.

At that point, the cycle began again. On Week 19, they gained a sizeable +119.3pts to make their way back into the positives. It was foolowed immediately with a -117.4pts result, dropping them back into the negatives. They dropped a bit more to hit -88.5pts.

With 4th, 5th and 6th place so close, they needed to gain points and separate themselves. Over the lat few weeks of the season, they were quite successful in making gains. Leading the charge is Hisato, who gained points in every single game he played in March. From nearly -100.0pts, the team made it back up to 0.0pts, then to +100.0pts.

On the final day, Hisato was in 5th place in the individual rankings and 83.8pts behind 1st place Shiratori. He needed to get a very good 1st place or two 1sts to take the MVP award. In his first game, her managed to hold onto 1st place and defeated Genta, bringing him just 31.8pts behind Shiratori. However, he has to contend with 2nd place Daigo. Hisato dominated much of the game and had a very strong lead going into the last hand as the final dealer. However, a last-minute comeback by Daigo meant that Hiato was passed and just mised the MVP award.

Still, the Konami Mahjong Fight Club finishes the regular season in 5th place with +208.0pts and a 25/26/23/22 record.

Going Into The Semifinals: +104.0pts

On one hand, this semifinals appearance continues the team’s perfect semifinals attendance record. On the other hand, they have only gained points 1 of the 5 semifinals appearances. They are plagued with the curse of losing points in the semifinals. Along with this curse, the team is currently in 5th place, just outside of a finals spot. Earning points is almost a requirement to make it beyond the semifinals.

So how do they do it? Well, let’s look at who performs the best in the semifinals. In the three years that Date has been with the team, her worst semifinals total is -8.0pts. Compare that to Takizawa, whose best semifinals result as a Konami Mahjong Fight Club member is -20.3pts. Takamiya tends to skew negative while Hisato is a bit negative as well.

One thing that may work in Konami’s favour is Hisato’s recent good fortunes. In the final day, Hisato was on quite the streak and was ended up being passed for the MVP spot in the final hand. With the power that Hisato has and potetially some motivation for revenge, Hisato could be a high-scoring player in the semifinals as well.

---

6th: Shibuya Abemas

Regular Season: -206.0pts (22/22/31/21)

After being the bronze collectors for four season straight, the Shibuya Abemas finally won their first championship in the 2022-23 season. Unfortunately, the champion’s curse got to them and they failed to make the finals for the first time last season. Going into this season, the team decided to stay together.

Unusual for the Shibuya Abemas, they were unable to get any good results at all to start off the season. It took them 7 games to get their first 1st, but they kept dropping from their. They dropped below -200.0pts, below -300.0pts. After they played 25 games, they were at -425.5pts and in 9th in the overall standings.

Though they did have a brief rise, they ended up falling even more. On November 29, the team hit -563.9pts. Just over a week later, they hit their low of -583.2pts.

Being at the lowest that the team has ever been, it was time for the team to turn it around. Heading this fight is Shiratori. Game after game, Shiratori kept winning and winning and winning. In just about 2 weeks, Shiratori had an incredible run and won five games in a row, only the second person in M-League history to get this achievement. With all those wins, the team was now up above -300.0pts and up to 7th place.

After things stalled a bit in the first few weeks of January, things returned to their winning ways. They went back above -300.0pts, above -200.0pts, above -100.0pts. On February 17, after many months of missing, Matsumoto finally got his first 1st place of the season to get the team to -52.0pts.

Things looked like it would get better, but it ended up being another tragic fall for the team. In their next 16 games, they had a 0/3/10/3 record, going 16 games without a 1st place and going -310.7pts.

At this point, the Shibuya Abemas are in 6th place and just about 100.0pts above the 7th place. Shiratori, who is in range for the MVP award, would be the defender for the team. On the final week on Monday, a 1st place by Hinata gave her 20th game and essentially secured her spot as the 4th avoidance winner. A 2nd place by Shiratori in the second game raised the team up. On Thursday, Shiratori played the first game and kept 1st Shibukawa in check, getting a 2nd place to reduce the swing. On the final game for the Shibuya Abemas, Shiratori was behind Sonoda for the MVP award going into the final hand. With a big haneman tsumo, Shiratori was able to shrink the gap enough to return to the top of the MVP standings and confirmed the Shibuya Abemas’ position above the Kadokawa Sakura Knights and EX Furinkazan.

Unfortunately, Shiratori was passed during the final day and ended up in 2nd place overall, but Hinata became the first female player to win the 4th avoidance award. For the team, they finish in 6th place with a -206.0pts, advancing to the semifinals.

Going Into The Semifinals: -103.0pts

The Shibuya Abemas are in a difficult position, they are the only team entering the semifinals in the negatives and they sit 268.2pts behind 4th place Team Raiden. However, it is not impossible to overcome.

Shiratori has been having an incredible season. He has the team’s best individual score since Ooi’s 476.3pts MVP score in the 2018-19 season, and is tied for the most wins in a single regular season at 13. However, the team has generally done their best when all the players play equally. Shiratori has played 35 games while their next-closest player has 22 games (which happens to be -426.6pts Matsumoto). They will have to figure out the balance that they need it order to gain them the most points.

Interestingly, the team has only gotten six 4ths since the mid-season (48 games). However, the team has gotten nineteen 3rds. 4th avoidance is not enough in this scenario, they will have to be a bit more aggressive and convert those 3rds into 2nds and 1sts.

6th place is a bad position, but it is not an impossible position. The EX Furinkazan won +520.5pts in their semifinals run last season, and two teams have won the championship after being in 6th place at the end of the regular season (the Pirates in 2019-20, the Sakura Knights in 2021-22). It has been done before and it can be done again.

---