Game #10
Team Raiden
Sega Sammy
Phoenix
Akasaka
Drivens
U-Next Pirates
Yu
May 12, Game 2, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5634
In E4-1, Yu is currently on a three-hand winning streak and has a 9,100 lead over 2nd place Taro. As the dealer, he has the ability to drastically increase the lead and erase the losses from the previous game.
Yu starts out the hand at 4-shanten with a secured dora 7p and a loose red 5m. Yu gets some strong draws, secures the red 5m and gets to iishanten on turn 5.
At the start of the second row, Yu increases his tile acceptance to 5 different tiles. However, pressure is put on the table as Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen.
During the ippatsu round, Yu switches his 112p shape to a 24p shape, allowing him to throw his 1p pair for safety.
As he does this shifting, Taro get sto tenpai on an 8m kanchan. Unfortunately, none remain in the wall.
Near the end of the row, Yu fills in the 3p kanchan and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen. Within the go-around, Daigo discards the 5s and deals into Yu. Hitting the uradora as well, Yu wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Pinfu/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for a big 18,000+300 hit, pushing Yu up to 56,000.
Taro Time
May 12, Game 2
In S1-1, Taro in 2nd place and 30,800 behind 1st place Yu.
Taro starts out the hand at 4-shanten with two ryanmens, two terminal pairs and a connected red 5m. In the first row, he makes fils in one ryanmen and makes two more for 2-shanten. With pinfu in his sights, he gets rid of one of his terminal pairs.
After creating a 678m sequence and a 678p sequence, Taro gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 14p ryanmen.
To his left, Daigo is in 4th place and is sitting iishanten. With tiles that have some safety, Daigo is able to push a bit. At the end of the second row, he gets to tenpai and calls riichi ona 3p penchan.
Immediately after, Taro draws the 4p and wins the hand. Taro wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100, happily taking Daigo’s riichi stick donation as well.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s70_p3021
Moving to S3-0, Daigo is now the dealer and 21,400 behind 1st place Yu.
Taro starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a secured red 5m and leaning towards tanyao. The 14p ryanmen in his hand, may cause problems, however. By turn 2, fans could see that Daigo has a 4p triplet and Yu has a 34p block, meaning that Taro would be unable to complete that group in an open hand. By the end of the first row, he still remains 3-shanten.
With things going too slowly, Taro decides to speed things up in the middle of the second row by calling pon on the red 5p. With a 68p chii, Taro breaks his 14p ryanmen block and gets to iishanten, now guaranteed tanyao.
As he waits for tenpai, Daigo gets there first and calls riichi on a 3m penchan.
In the third row, Taro is able to call a 345m chii and gets to tenpai on a 5s kanchan. Only the red 5s remains in the wall.
Near the end of the hand, Honda calls a 234s chii to get to tenpai on a yakuless 2m/9m shanpon, hoping to simply hold it until a draw. The chii, however, ends up shifting the red 5s to Daigo. Being in riichi, he is forced to discard it and deals into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Tanyao/Aka 3 for 12,000 plus a riichi stick. Not only does it get Taro closer to 1st place, it’s also a big hit on the Akasaka Drivens’ closest rival.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p2139
In S3-1, Taro is now just 8,400 behind 1st place Yu.
Taro start out with a solid 2-shanten hand with three ryanmens. Though pinfu and riichi are the main source of value in this hand, drawing around the isolated 3p dora could up it to a mangan. During the first row, Taro creates a 35678p shape, needing a 4 to secure it as two sequences and have a chance at a 345 sanshoku. With the potential for a lot of value, he actually breaks up his north pair and goes back a shanten to go for it.
On turn 8, Taro is met with a challenge when Honda calls riichi and waits on a 3p penchan. Honda’s hand hand has the rare ryanpeikou guaranteed, holding a haneman minimum hand.
For Taro, he is in a dangerous position, sitting iishanten with the 3p not yet secured, if he draws a 5p or 8p to make a pair, he will have to throw the 3p to take tenpai.
As if Zeus was destined to win, Taro draws the final 3p to make a 3p pair and get to tenpai. With mangan guaranteed, he waits dama on a 25m ryanmen. What’s more, the 2m is a safe tile against Honda, meaning an unsuspecting folding player could deal into a big hand. Near the end of the first row, Yu is that unsuspecting folding player, discarding the 2m and dealing into Taro. Taro wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 2 for 12,000+300 plus a riichi stick, leaping into the lead.
U-Next Upward
May 12, Game 2, S3-2
In S3-2, Yu is 17,200 after dealing into Taro’s dealer mangan. After being holding such a big lead so early on, Yu wants to return to the top and get the team’s second win of the finals.
With Yu’s very first draw, he is already iishanten. On his next draw, he pairs up the 4p dora to get to tenpai and calls riichi on an 8s kanchan. There is nothing that anyone can do to stop this hand. On turn 4, Yu draws the 8s and wins the hand. Yu wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Dora 2 for 2,000+200/4,000+200, shrinking Taro’s lead to just 4,400 going into the final hand.
Daigo Denial
May 12, Game 2, S4-0
In S4-0, the fight at the top is close, with 1st place Taro and 2nd place dealer Yu separated by 4,400. Though the bottom two players can’t really move up in the standings, they can still play spoiler and gain as main points as they can.
Both Yu and Honda start out the hand at 3-shanten, while Daigo and Taro are 2-shanten. For Yu, he wants to go quickly, calling chii on the red 5s for a 345s sequence. He aims for tanyao and wants to build on the 3m dora. By the end of the first row, everyone is iishanten.
The one holding the most expensive hand is Daigo, who has a red dragon pair and a pair of 3m dora. On turn 8, Daigo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m/red dragon shanpon, guaranteed at least a mangan if he wins.
Right after, Taro draws the final 3m and waits dama on a 58p ryanmen.
Though there are no red dragons nor 3m left in the wall, there is a chance that Honda breaks his red dragon pair or Yu’s floating 3m dora. In the middle of the second row, Yu discards the floating 3m trying to be efficient as possible and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 3 for 8,000, ending the game.
Final Scores
Standings
With the 1st place by the Akasaka Drivens and the 4th place by the Sega Sammy Phoenix, the team gets a huge 138.4pts swing and has their biggest lead of the finals at 111.6pts. Though Yu wasn’t able to get his 1st place, the gain means that they are now closer to 2nd place than they started the day. And for Team Raiden, they dropped a bit, but still remains within range.
And that’s all for the final Monday of the M-League 2024-25 season! Six games remain in the finals. All teams have a chance to shift the standings. Can any team make that move? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!
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