M-League 2024-25 Finals: The Teams

The M-League 2024-25 Finals begin on May 5! Today, we’ll take a look at which teams will be playing, how they got here and what they will need to do to succeed.

1st: Akasaka Drivens

Regular Season: +1115.5pts (1st, 34/25/18/19)

After a new roster and a big 2nd place result last season, the team wanted to better it this season. They kept the same roster to go for the championship.

After they were down early, they Akasaka Drivens charged forward and charged hard. Through October and november, they were breaking big point barriers and were reaching heights that took other teams a whole season to get to. At mid-season they were at +771.2pts.

After the mid-season they kept it going, breaking +800.0pts and +900.0pts, smashing the Pirates’ former record of +887.6pts. It took the Pirates until March to get there, the Drivens did it on January 14. It was a team effort for the Drivens, with all the players in the top 8 and all of them had a chance at MVP.

After a few close calls, the team finally broke +1000.0pts on February 28, then broke +1100.0pts on March 11. Though despite the big gains and big efforts, the top Drivens players were passed near the end and they missed out on MVP. But, they still had the greatest regular season of all time.

Semifinals: +714.8pts (Net +157.0pts, 6/7/4/3)

In terms of the Akasaka Drivens’ own points, they were pretty stagnant for the first half of the semifinals. In their first 8 games, they went 1/3/3/1 for an even record and lost -69.0pts, much of that was due to Futoshi’s 3rd place tie with 3,000, which was basically equivalent to a 4th place.

As the Akasaka Drivens stalled, the U-Next Pirates, started to gain and the Drivens were eventually passed on April 17. Refusing to take it, the team put down four 1sts in their next five games, including a daily double by Taro and Sonoda on April 21 to put the team back above.

In the final quarter of the semifinals, the Drivens made small but sure gains. The Pirates got close, but they were kept at bay. On the second-last day, the Drivens hit a peak of +753.7pts, a new M-League record. By the end, the team finished with +714.8pts.

Going into the Finals: +357.4pts

The Akasaka Drivens are starting at the highest starting score ever for a semifinals. Though that may seem cool, they are actually just 44.0pts ahead of the U-Next Pirates. Things remain close for the team, but they do have a head start.

The Akasaka Drivens have the second-lowest semifinals win rate and second-highest semifinals deal-in rate out of the four teams in the finals. For them to have success, they will need to up their win rate and lower the deal in rate. With their biggest rivals doing so well in those categories, failure to improve will drop the team to 2nd or even 3rd. Having a high tenpai rate at draw does not win championships.

Taro was the best player for the team in both the regular season and in the semifinals, so he is the easy choice as the team star. But, Asami should not be overlooked. She only played three games in the semifinals, but she was in the top 25% for semifinals earners, had the best riichi rate in the team and had a 35.48% win rate in her games. With this extra rest, she could be a powerhouse in the finals.

If they can make it through, they will get their first championship since the very first season in the 2018-19 season.

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2nd: U-Next Pirates

Regular Season: +481.2pts (2nd, 28/27/22/19)

With a dominant performance in the 2024-25 season and the first team to win a second championship, they wanted to take the same roster and get their second one in a row.

After being in the negatives a few times during the few weeks, they stayed above ±0.0pts starting in the 6th week. They fought with the Konami Mahjong Fight Club over the next couple of weeks before making their breakthrough in the middle of the season.

The team looked like they might be able to pass the Sega Sammy Phoenix for 2nd place, but they ended up dropping -307.4pts. But, after a 1st in late January to break a 12-game winless streak, the climb began again.

In early February, the Pirates were up in 2nd place. In early March, they reached a peak of +574.1pts. After a bit of bumpiness at the end, the U-Next Pirates finished the season with +481.2pts.

Semifinals: +626.7pts (Net +386.1pts, 8/6/2/4)

The U-Next Pirates made quite an impactful start in the semifinals. In their first six games, they ended up either 1st or 2nd. Over the course of that first week, they had gained 169.5pts and were within a 1st place away from the Akasaka Drivens. And though they started the following Tuedsaywith a 4th place, a big 60,200 1st place by Nakabayashi more than made up for it.

The day is April 15, 2025. Suzuki Yu is playing for the U-Next Pirates. Yu starts out the game with a big haneman, making his mark on the game. Though he ends up dealing in a few times and actually ends up tied for last place going into the south round, he wins four of the last five hands of the game to take the game with 41,000. The win by Yu also brought the team into 1st place in the standings, ending the Akasaka Drivens’ reign that they held since mid-November.

In the next game, Yu is sent out again, a rare occurrence of the U-Next Pirates. He starts out the game with yet another haneman. This time, however, he did not waver. Winning a total of seven hands, including two hanemans, three mangans and a bunch of sanshoku, Yu finished the game with a whopping 80,700, which would be the largest score of the semifinals. The U-Next Pirates break +600.0pts, the first team to do that.

As the Akasaka Drivens went up to retake their top spot, the U-Next Pirates went down. On April 22 the team had a double 4th and dropped down to 154.0pts below the Akasaka Drivens.

April 25 was recovery day. With Mizuhara and Yu playing, both players finished their games above 50,000 and took the team up a whopping 153.5pts, getting the team very close to retaking top spot. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to make that final breakthrough and remained in 2nd place for the remainder of the finals. Still, they finish with 626.7pts with an 8/6/2/4 record, the most semifinals wins of any team this season.

Going into the Finals: +313.4pts

The U-Next Pirates have gone further than any other championship team has gone. They are the first championship team to make the finals the following year. The curse has been broken, and they broke it big time. That is surely a big confidence boost for the team.

The Pirates are sandwiched right in between the Akasaka Drivens and the Sega Sammy Phoenix. This means that they will have to watch from all sides. They have to make sure that they make ground on the Akasaka Drivens while keeping the Sega Sammy Phoenix at bay.

Their biggest stregth during the semifinals is their win rate, having a 26.47% win rate. They also had the highest average value, which is a bit unual for the usually call-heavy Pirates. If they can continue to do well with their riichi calls, they can continu to gain big points.

Having two previous championship wins, the team has proven that they can do very well in they playoffs. This season in particular, they were the best performers in the semifinals. Yu gained the most points out of all the players with a +236.3pts gain. Mizuhara should not be overlooked, who had a 1/2/1/0 record with her first positive results in 5 years. If they can come through, they will have their second championship in a row.

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3nd: Sega Sammy Phoenix

Regular Season: +339.8pts (3rd, 26/26/19/25)

The Sega Sammy Phoenix finished last season in 9th place and replaced Uotani and Tojo for Genta and Takaki, hoping to bring some new energy from these two title winners.

From the very first day, the team never went below ±0.0pts. In fact, the team was surging and was in 1st place in much of the first half of the regular season. Just past the midway point, they hit a peak of +599.3pts. This would be much more impressive if it weren’t for the Akasaka Drivens having an ungodly start as well. Still, the Sega Sammy Phoenix’s results put them pretty solidly in 2nd place.

The team stayed above +500.0pts for much of January and things were looking pretty good for them. Unfortunately, a surge by the U-Next Pirates in late January and a double 4th on February 5 dropped the team out of the top two for the first time since very early in the season. They did manage to take a very small lead again later in the month, but relinquished it in early March.

Though the team wasn’t able to reach the top two again, the individual players were still fighting for MVP. With an incredible comeback baiman in the final hand of the regular season, Daigo went to the top of the standings and won the MVP award. The team finishes in 3rd place with +339.8pts and a record of 26/26/19/15.

Semifinals: +512.9pts (Net +343.0pts, 6/8/6/0)

The Sega Sammy Phoenix had an interesting semifinals. The whole things started off with Daigo getting the first win of the semis, just like how he ended the regular season with a 1st place. However, the rest of their games during the first two weeks were 2nds and 3rds, save for another 1st place by Daigo to start off the second week. By the midway point, they had a 2/3/5/0 record. Their 4th avoidance game is on point, but they only gained 78.6pts over the first 10 games.

In the second half, things were picked up quite a bit. Not only did they continue to avoid 4th place, they also started to get good 1sts and 2nds. In 90% of their games in the second half, they gained points. On April 24, the team got a daily double from Genta and Kayamori. And in their final game, a big baiman by Daigo gave Daigo the lead and led him to finish the semifinals with a win, the perfect bookends. With a +343.0pts gain over the semifinals and a 6/8/6/0 record, they were near perfect and are the first team to finish a semifinals without a 4th place.

Going into the Finals: +256.5pts

The Sega Sammy Phoenix sits down in 3rd place, but they are 100.9pts behind 1st place. With a 1st/4th result against the Akasaka Drivens, it is certainly possible for them to get there in their first game.

In general, though, the Sega Sammy Phoenix may be looking to take some more risks. The championship is the top goal and they need to place above two other teams to get there. They can’t afford to play 4th avoidance. Getting 3rd place is almost like a loss. At the very least, they should be aiming to place above the Pirates and Drivens in every game to make gains.

Daig has been having a phenomenal season, being the MVP in the regular season and the second-best performer in the semifinals. In his six games in the semifinals, he had three 1sts and three 2nds. If he can carry this momentum in these next two weeks, things will be looking good. Though, everyone else on the team gained points in the playoffs, so they can also be relied upon. Success in the finals could lead the Sega Sammy Phoenix to their first championship in team history.

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4th: Team Raiden

Regular Season: +330.3pts (4th, 25/28/24/19)

Team Raiden ended up failing to make the playoffs last season, but kept the team to try for it again this season.

The narrative for much of the regular season was the team being bound between +100.0pts and -100.0pts. Gains balanced by losses, losses balanced by gains. It wasn’t until mid-February that the team broke +100.0pts. Soon after, though, the team had a big drop and went all the way down to a season low of -93.0pts.

As if a switch was flipped, the team ended up winning and winning. The team ended up starting their days with 1sts and gained more points in the second game. Not only did they return above +100.0pts, they ended up going above +200.0pts, above +300.0pts, above +400.0pts. On March 21, they were at +419.1pts by the end of the day on March 21.

They dropped with a double 4th on the last day, but they finished with a score of +330.3pts and a 25/28/24/19 record, the best result ever for the team.

Semifinals: -9.9pts (Net -175.1pts, 5/2/6/7)

The first half of the semifinals for Team Raiden was on the battle for 3rd place between them and the Sega Sammy Phoenix. On their second day of games, Kurosawa and Honda brought the team a big daily double to bring the team up to 3rd place and were within striking distance of the 2nd place U-Next Pirates. Unfortunately, it was followed by a double 4th a day after to put the team back into 3rd 4th place. By the midway point, they were just slightly net negative.

In the second half, it was a battle between them and the Konami Mahjong Fight Club for the final playoff spot. On April 21, Honda was tasked with double duty and was just unable to make the most of it. With two 4ths on the day, the team dropped -108.1pts and was now closer to 5th than they were to 3rd. With success by the Konami Mahjong FIght Club the following day, Team Raiden was now out of a playoff spot. The following four games, Team Raiden got two 4ths and two 3rds, dropping the team down to below -100.0pts.

The 4th place deficit could have been much wider, but the misfortunates of the Konami Mahjong Fight Club meant that Team Raiden was still in the game. Going into their final four matches, Team Raiden was 116.8pts away from a playoff spot. On April 28, Kurosawa played the first game for the team. Winning four hands to take 1st place while pushing Takamiya into 4th place, the team shrunk that 116.8pts deficit down to just 9.8pts. With a 2nd place by Honda and another 4th place by Konami, Team Raiden was back in a playoff position.

Going into the final day, Team Raiden was 41.3pts ahead of the Konami Mahjong Fight Club, making it Raiden’s spot to lose. Things were looking scary going into the south round of the first game with Kurosawa being in 4th place. Then, a big dealer haneman tsumo in South 3 suddently bumped Kurosawa up to 2nd place. In South 4, a fortuitous win by Kurosawa gave the team an unexpected 1st place, essentially securing their spot. With a Honda 3rd place to confirm it, Team Raiden finished the finals with -9.9pts and a record 5/2/6/7. A spot in the finals is a spot in the finals.

Going into the Finals: -4.9pts

Team Raiden is in the famed 4th place position, the same position that the 2018-19 Akasaka Drivens were in, the 2019-20 U-Next Pirates were in, the 2020-21 EX Furinkazan were in. More than half of champions were 4th place going into the finals.

Things are a little bit different this time, though. 3rd place is 261.4pts away, 1st place is 362.3pts away. Even getting to 3rd place is a huge challenge.

If their goal is to take 3rd place, then they will have to target the Sega Sammy Phoenix and aim to be above them in every game. With that “minimal” goal, they can get prize money.

If they want the championship, they will have to get 1st in every game. The main issue with this is that a 1st/2nd swing is only 40.0pts with the uma. Assuming that Team Raiden falters in some games and doesn’t get 1st place, they will have to make sure to supplement the uma swing with big results.

Kurosawa has been one of the biggest stars in the playoffs, out of all the players in fact. She is the only player on Team Raiden with an overall net gain and her two 1sts in the last two days were the shift that secured the team their playoff spot. With her results, she should be in the spotlight for the finals. Hagiwara, on the other hand, has struggled a lot with a 4th place in all three of his games. Though the final game is traditionally played by the team captain, it might be wise for him to sit that one out.

If everything goes well for them, Team Raiden can get their first championship.