Thursday (April 10)

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Game 1

Straightforward

April 10, Game 1, E2-0

In E2-0, Mizuhara is the dealer in 3rd place, 1,300 behind 2nd place Kurosawa and 3,800 behind 1st place Genta.

Mizuhara starts out the hand at 3-shanten and is a 2m and an 8m away from a manzu ittsuu. On turn 3, she makes a 7s pair and gets to 2-shanten. On turn 4, she gets the 2m for iishanten. A turn after that, Mizuhara draws the 8m to complete the ittsuu and calls riichi on a 14s ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

Across from her, Kurosawa is at 2-shanten and has a chance to go for ittsuu as well (though in pinzu). At the start of the second row, she pairs up the 5s to get to iishanten, just a 2p away from the full straight. A turn later, she draws the 2p to secure the ittsuu and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan if she wins.

Though, she is behind in the count, fighting Mizuhara’s five winning tiles to her one winning tile.

Sitting between the two ittsuu players is Takizawa. Two turns into Kurosawa’s riichi, Takizawa draws the red 5s and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen. Like the others, he is guaranteed at least a mangan.

One winning tile remains for him.

It’s mangan vs. mangan vs. mangan. Then, around the end of the second row, Kurosawa draws and discards the 1s and deals into Mizuhara. Mizuhara wins the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Ura 1 for 12,000 plus two riichi sticks.

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Reverse Course

April 10, Game 1, E4-0

In E4-0, Kurosawa is the dealer in 4th place, needing to more than double her score to get back into the game.

Kurosawa starts out the hand 4-shanten with a connected red 5s and two ryanmens. The first row provides Kurosawa with many connecting shapes, getting her to 2-shanten at the end of the second row.

Around the start of the second row, Kurosawa creates a 147m three-sided wait and gets to iishanten. Over the next few turns, Kurosawa creates a 5666s shape and draws a 7m to complete the manzu. With the tenpai, Kurosawa calls riichi on a 457s wait. Two turns later, Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all.

With the win Kurosawa moves up to 3rd place and now sits just 2,700 behind 1st place Genta.

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Dora 3

April 10, Game 1, S2-0

In S2-0, Genta is in 2nd place and 4,000 behind 1st place Mizuhara.

Genta starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a pair of dora red dragons. In the first row, Genta creates a 14m ryanmen and makes a lot of shapes in pinzu. On turn 5, Genta calls pon on the red dragon and gets to iishanten.

It takes a bit of time, but Genta gets the 4m to complete the manzu sequence and waits on a 14p ryanmen for mangan. Two turns later, Takizawa discards the 1p trying to take iishanten and deals into Genta. Genta wins the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 3 for 8,000, moving into 1st place.

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Time Raiden

April 10, Game 1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5119

In S3-0 Kurosawa is in 3rd place, 4,100 behind 2nd place Mizuhara and 8,100 behind 1st place Genta.

Kurosawa starts out the hand drawing the red 5m, adding value to her 2-shanten hand with a loosely-connected dora 8s. In the first row, she pairs up the double south and calls it as soon as it comes out. Within a few turns, Kurosawa pairs up the 8s dora and calls chii on a 123s sequence, getting to tenpai on a 47p ryanmen. guaranteed a mangan if she wins.

Across from her, Mizuhara is iishanten with a secured red 5s. Over the next few turns, Mizuhara shifts her hand towards tanyao. In the middle of the second row, Mizuhara calls a 678m chii and gets to tenpai on a 6p/4m shanpon.

Immediately after, Takizawa (who has tenpai on a yakuless 3p wait for the past few turns) creates a 123p sequence and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen.

After drawing the 4p, Mizuhara decides to fold her hand to not deal any dangerous tiles. Takizawa has no choice, though, and ends up discarding the 4p at the end of the second row, dealing into Kurosawa. Kurosawa wins the hand with Double South/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000 plus one riichi stick, moving up to 1st place.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p2883

In S4-0, Kurosawa is now the dealer and has a narrow 900 lead over 2nd place Genta.

Kurosawa starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a pair of green dragons. Within the first four turns, Kurosawa makes the green dragon into a triplet and a 345p sequence to get to iishanten. On turn 5, she draws a fourth green dragon and calls a concealed kan. With her rinshan draw, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69s ryanmen.

During the ippatsu round, Mizuhara pairs up the 7m kandora, giving her pushing potential, even more so when she makes it a triplet a turn later.

In the second row, Mizuhara calls a 234p chii and gets to iishanten. Unfortunately, she draws a 1m to create a 123m sequence a turn later. It does get her to tenpai on a 36s ryanmen, but she has no yaku. When the 3s comes out from Genta, Mizuhara decides to call chii and discard the 1m, only allowed to win if she draws the 4m herself.

On Kurosawa next turn, she gets the 6s and wins the hand. Kurosawa wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Green Dragon with enough fu to get it to a 4,000 all mangan, increasing hear lead.

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2nd Place Pirates

April 10, Game 1, S4-2
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5620

In S4-2, Mizuhara is in 3rd place and 7,000 behind 2nd place Genta. To move up into positive territory, Mizuhara needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo, or a mangan ron. If she wants to overtake the distant 23,900 1st place Kurosawa, Mizuhara needs a haneman direct hit, a baiman tsumo or a sanbaiman ron.

Mizuhara starts out the hand at 4-shanten with not much to talk about. There is a route for chanta with her terminal groups and east pair, but it would require perfect draws. From the very start, Mizuhara sets her eyes on chanta as she discards the 5m on her first turn. Through the first row, Mizuhara transforms a floating 2s into a 123s sequence to get to 2-shanten. At the end of the row, Mizuhara creates a 799m shape to strengthen chanta.

In the middle of the second row, Mizuhara makes a 1p triplet to get to iishanten. A turn later, she draws a fourth one. She calls a concealed kan and fills in a 7p penchan on her rinshan draw. With the tenpai, she calls riichi and waits on an east/9m shanpon.

If she can manage to draw the winning tile herself and get four uradora, it would be enough. If she can hit Kurosawa and get three uradora, it would be enough.

During the ippatsu round, Kurosawa draws an east. Not wanting to push hard against it, she breaks up her south triplet. However, when she exhausts the souths, she breaks the east pair in her hand and deals into Mizuhara.

Unfortunately for Mizuhara, she is unable to get any uradora for the big comeback. However, her Riichi/Chanta for 8,000+600 is enough to get her into 2nd place.

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Results

Game 5

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Game 2

Takaki Time

April 10, Game 2

In E1-0, Takaki is playing for the Sega Sammy Phoenix in his first M-League playoff game.

Before Takaki even gets his first draw, he calls pon on the west to try to savage his now 4-shanten hand with a potential route to tanyao. Around the middle of the row, Takaki breaks his 4p pair to force the honitsu route. By the end of the row, Takaki is 2-shanten.

Looking around the table, Hisato has already called pon on the north and Yu has a pair of easts ready to be called. When Takaki discards the east as he gets to iishanten, Yu calls pon to secure a yaku.

In the middle of the second row, Hisato is the first to tenpai and waits on a 25m ryanmen.

Over the next two turns, Yu draws a red 5s and calls pon on the 3s to get to tenpai on an 8s kanchan, guaranteed a mangan if he wins.

Two turns after that, Takaki pairs up the 2m dora and waits on a 58m ryanmen. With a 345s chii, Yu improves to a 58s ryanmen. Then, on Takaki’s next turn, he draws the 8m and wins the hand. Takaki wins the hand with West/Honitsu/Dora 2 for 2,000/4,000.

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Moving to E3-0, Takaki is now the dealer and 6,000 ahead of 2nd place Honda.

Takaki starts out the hand at 2-shanten with two ryanmens, a secured red 5p, a connected dora 3s and a pair of easts. To his right, Hisato is 2-shanten for seven pairs with a pair of 3s dora for value. Both players advance their hands quickly, both players getting to iishanten by turn 3. The first to get to tenpai is Hisato on turn 4, who waits dama on a 2p tanki for haneman.

At the end of the first row, Takaki makes a triplet of norths and calls riichi on a 25s ryanmen. On his very next turn, Takaki draws the 5s and wins the hand. Takaki wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 4,000 all, moving his score up to 44,000.

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Honda Time

April 10, Game 2

In E4-0, Honda is in 3rd place, 8,100 behind 2nd place Yu and 19,000 behind 1st place Takaki.

Honda starts out the hand at 2-shanten with a white dragon pair and connected dora 2p. On turn 2, Honda makes a 123p sequence and gets to iishanten. On turn 5, Honda calls pon on the white dragon and gets to tenpai on a 7s kanchan.

At the start of the second row, Honda draws a fourth white dragon and calls an added kan. With the kandora, the two 3p in Honda’s hand becomes the new dora, upgrading him to a mangan. Within the go-around, Takaki discards the 7s and deals into Honda. Honda wins the hand with White Dragon/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000.

With the direct hit off 1st place, Honda is now just 100 behind 2nd place Yu and 3,000 behind 1st place Takaki.

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Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5120

In S2-0, Honda is now the dealer and in the lead, 3,500 behind 1st place Honda.

With Honda’s very first draw, Honda gets to iishanten with a 14p ryanmen and a 36m ryanmen. After two useless draws, Honda draws the 4p to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen, though it is riichi only.

On his very next draw, he gets the 3m and wins the hand. Hitting the uradora, Honda wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Ura 1 for 4,000 all.

With some lucky timing, Honda is able to transform a riichi only hand to a valuable mangan.

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Hisato Honitsu

April 10, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p3623

In S2-1, Hisato is in 4th place, 9,500 behind 3rd place Yu and 13,700 behind 2nd place Takaki.

Hisato starts out the hand at an annoying 5-shanten hand. Around the table, the rest of his opponents are at 3-shanten. In the first row, Yu leads the pack with a 234m chii, getting to iishanten by the end of the row. Sitting a bit behind is Takaki at 2-shanten with good waits. For Hisat, he still sits at 3-shanten.

At the start of the second row, Yu calls a 567m chii and gets to tenpai on a 3p kanchan.

For Hisato, his hand leans towards a pinzu honitsu. Around the middle of the second row, Hisato calls a 678p chii to force it, even while he is 2-shanten after the call. With a 1p pon, Hisato gets to iishanten.

Around the end of the second row, Takaki gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 25p ryanmen, guaranteed at least a mangan.

Immediately after, Hisato makes a red dragon dora triplet and gets to tenpai on a 58p ryanmen. If the 5p comes out from Yu or Honda, Histo’s haneman win would be headbumped.

When Yu draws a dangerous 6p against Hisato’s flush, Yu chooses to fold his hand.

Honda, on the other hand, does not fold. Even as he has only one draw left, Honda decides to call riichi when he gets to tenpai and waits on a 36p ryanmen.

On the second-last tile in the wall, Hisato gets the 5p and wins the hand. Hisato wins the hand with Honitsu/Red Dragon/Dora 3 for 3,000+100/6,000+100 plus two riichi sticks, jumping up to 2nd place.

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2nd Place Pirates

April 10, Game 2, S4-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5621

In S4-0, Yu is in 4th place, 7,100 behind 3rd place Takaki and 15,700 behind 2nd place Hisato. For 3rd place, Yu needs a 3/30 direct hit, a 3/50 or 4/25 tsumo, or a mangan ron. For 2nd place, he needs a mangan direct hit, a haneman tsumo or a baiman ron. For the dreamers, a baiman direct hit off Honda will give Yu the incredible 1st place win.

Yu starts out the hand with a decent 4-shanten hand with a connected red 5p and three ryanmens. The first row gives Yu nice sequences and a red 5s, giving good shapes and value. By the end of the first row, Yu is 2-shanten.

Looking around the table, Hisato heads for a pinzu honitsu and Honda is iishanten with decent shapes. After calling pon on the south in the first row, Hisato calls pon on the east near the end of the second row and gets to tenpai on a 7p penchan. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall.

Looking back at Yu, he is now iishanten with a very likely pinfu and route to mangan. With a 678m chii, Honda gets to iishanten. At the end of the row, Honda is the next player to tenpai, waiting on a 369s wait. However, Honda is furiten and only allowed to win on the 36s.

Two turns after that, Takaki gets to tenpai on a 58p ryanmen, also sitting furiten.

As the turns go on, Yu keeps pushing, wanting that comeback hand. When Honda draws a dangerous 1p, Honda folds. When Takaki draws a dangerous 2p, he folds as well.

With no winning tiles left in the wall for Hisato, it all comes down to Yu. WIth less than 10 tiles left in the wall, Yu finally gets to tenpai. He calls riichi and waits on a 14m ryanmen. If he gets the 1m, he will have a mangan. If he gets the 4m, he will have a haneman.

Within the go-around, Hisato ends up drawing and discarding the ideal 4m (wanting 1st place) and deals into Yu. Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Aka 2 for 12,000. With this direct hit off 2nd place, Yu makes the big jump from 4th place to 2nd place, ending the game in top spot.

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Results

Game 6

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Intro | Standings