Game #16
Team Raiden
Akasaka
Drivens
Sega Sammy
Phoenix
U-Next Pirates
For the Sega Sammy Phoenix and Akasaka Drivens in 2nd and 3rd, respectively, they will have to fight to rise and take the championship.
If the Sega Sammy Phoenix get 1st place, they will still have to be 14,600 ahead of the Pirates. With a 2nd place result, the Pirates would need to be 3rd with a 34,600 gap or 4th place with a 14,600 gap, as well as the Drivens placing below the Phoenix.
For the Akasaka Drivens, a 1st place would require a 29,500 gap on a 2nd place Pirates or a 9,500 gap on a 3rd place Pirates. If they get 2nd place, they would need a 49,500 lead above a 3rd place Pirates or a 29,500 lead above a 4th place Pirates. In either case, they still need to place above the Phoenix.
Daigo Direct
May 16, Game 2, E1-1
In E1-1, Daigo is in 4th place after dealing into dealer Hagiwara for 3,900.
Daigo starts off at 4-shanten with a triplet of 8s in hand. Daigo switches out terminals and honours for simple tiles in the first row, shifting his hand to tanyao. By the end of the first row, Daigo gets to 3-shanten.
In the second row, Daigo draws a red 5m to create a sequence and calls a 678p chii for iishanten. Two turns later, Daigo gets to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen. Right after, Nakabayashi draws the 5m and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins with Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 3,900+300, a big hit on the 1st place team. The win pushes Daigo into 2nd place.
Daigo Ahead
May 16, Game 2, E2-1
In E2-1, Daigo is in 3rd place, 1,700 behind 2nd place Sonoda and 3,600 behind 1st place Hagiwara. A riichi stick and a honba are in the pot.
Daigo starts out the hand at 4-shanten. He doesn’t have value, but he can easily accept the 2m dora to create a sequence. On turn 2, Daigo draws the dora 2m and gets to tenpai on a 123m sequence. Making a pinzu sequence and some connecting souzu pairs, Daigo gets to iishanten, by the end of the first row.
In the second row, Daigo draws a 3s and calls riichi on a 3s penchan, hodling a guaranteed iipeikou.
In the middle of the second row, Nakabayashi draws the final 3s, but is easily able to incorporate it into his hand. At the end of the first row, Nakabayashi get sto tenpai and waits dama on a 36m ryanmen, with the 6m being safe against Daigo.
Though none remain in the wall, Hagiwara has a chance to discard it. Sure enough, in the third row, Hagiwara discards the 3s trying to call riichi and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Iipeikou/Dora 1 for 5,200+300 plus one riichi stick, moving into 1st place.
Slowly Sonoda
May 16, Game 2
In E3-0, Sonoda s in 2nd place and 4,800 behind 1st place dealer Daigo.
Sonoda starts out the hand drawing the red 5s and advancing to 4-shanten. With simple tile draws in the first row, Sonoda moves towards tanyao. On turn 5, Sonoda calls pon on the 8p and gets to iishanten. In the near the middle of the second row, Sonoda calls pon on the 7m and waits on a 36m ryanmen. A turn later, he gets the 6m and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 500/1,000.
In E4-0, Sonoda is now 1,800 behind 1st place Sonoda.
Sonoda starts out this hand drawing a red 5m, getting to 3-shanten. The first row goes slowly for Sonoda, getting to only 2-shanten by the end of the row. Nakabayashi, on the other hand, is rushing with two calls and waiting at iishanten with a pair of doras.
Seeing that he needs to speed up, Sonoda calls a 234s chii with plans to discard his south pair for tanyao. After calling a 345s chii and making a 678p sequence, Sonoda gets to tenpai on a 25m ryanmen.
Right after, Nakabayashigets to tenpai on an 8p kanchan. When the 2p dora comes out, Nakabayashi calls pon to guarantee a mangan. He chooses a 9p tanki instead of a 7p tanki, but the 7p ends up coming out from Sonoda, a theoretical missed win.
On Sonoda’s next turn, he draws the 5m and wins the hand. Sonoda wins with Tanyao/Aka 1 for 500/1,000, moving into 1st.
Before Sonoda even gets his first draw in S1-0, Sonoda calls pon on the south to get to 2-shanten. Within two more turns, Sonoda makes a 7m pair and a 456m sequence for a 2s kanchan tenpai. Two turns later, Daigo discards the 2s and deals into Sonoda. Sonoda wins the hand with Double South/Aka 1 for 3,900.
U-Next Upwards
May 16, Game 2, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p5637
In S2-1, Nakabayashi is in 3rd place, 1,100 behind 2nd place Daigo and 12,600 behind 1st place dealer Sonoda.
Nakabayashi starts out with a solid 2-shanten hand with pairs of south and green dragon to guarantee at least one yakuhai. For value, he has a connected 5p and a connected 6s. On turn 2, he calls pon on the green dragon for iishanten. On turn 4, he draws an extra 6s for a perfect iishanten. At the start of the second row, Nakabayashi gets to tenpai ona 47p ryanmen.
In the middle of the second row, Hagiwara discards the 4p trying to call riichi and deals into Nakabayashi. Nakabayashi wins the hand with Green Dragon/South/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 8,000+300, taking Nakabayashi to within 4,600 behind 1st place Sonoda.
MVP Power
May 16, Game 2
In S3-0, Daigo is in 3rd place, 7,200 behind 2nd place Nakabayashi and 11,500 behind 1st place Sonoda. With his final dealership, this is his big chance to move up into 1st place and win it all for the team.
Daigo starts out the hand at 3-shanten with a connected red 5p and a floating red 5m, giving him the potential for good value. Within just three turns, he makes a pair of 2m and draws a 4m to connect to the red 5m. He gets to 2-shanten with a path to tanyao. At the end of the row, he completes a 456m sequence and gets to iishanten.
Though the hand looks like pinfu with tanyao guaranteed and a chance at a 456 sanshoku, the wall has other plans. Making a 4s triplet and a 123s squence, Daigo gets everything ruined. Still, he is tenpai and calls riichi on a 36p ryanmen, guarnateed at least 7,700.
With Daigo’s riichi tile, Nakabayashi calls a 456s sequence and gets to iishanten. Near the end of the row, he makes a 678p sequence and waits on a 58m ryanmen. Winning this hand would put Nakabayashi in a very favourable position going into the final hand.
Unfortunately for Nakabayashi, he ends up drawing an extra 6p on his next turn and deals into Daigo. Daigo wins the hand with Riichi/Aka 2 for 7,700, a big shift in the overall standings and actually moving the Akasaka Drivens into 1st overall.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4625
In S3-1, Daigo is now just 3,800 behind 1st place Sonoda.
Daigo starts out with a flexible 3-shanten hand and has a strong case for tanyao. By turn 3, he is already iishanten and waiting on seven different tiles for tenpai.
Though his hand is so wide, none of his tiles want to come. Then, in the middle of the second row, he finally gets there and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, wanting the 8s for iipeikou.
Right after, Nakabayashi draws the 8s. He holds all three of the red fives and Daigo has already discarded a dora east. Sitting iishanten with the potential for either a green dragon or a 345m sanshoku, Nakabayashi thinks that his chances of fighting are good. He pushes the 8s and ends up dealing into Daigo.
Dai wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tanyao/Iipeikou for 12,000+300, moving Daigo into a strong 1st place position and Nakabayashi down into 4th place.
The Final Hand
May 16, Game 2, S4-3
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-1_s5_p4626
In S4-3, it’s the final dealership of the game. A riichi stick and three honba sit in the pot. As it stands, Daigo is in 1st place and is in the championship position.
In 2nd place is Sonoda, sitting 5,500 behind Daigo. For 1st place and the championship, he needs a 1/50 or 2/25 direct hit, a 2/40 or 3/20 tsumo, or a 3/30 ron.
For Nakabayashi, he needs a big win to at least get to 2nd place. However, as the final dealer, he can win anything now and continue the dealership, slowly making ground on the top two.
Despite these hopes, Nakabayashi ends up with a 5-shanten hand with no pairs. The only hope here is the lone dora 1p and two ryanmens.
For Sonoda, he is 4-shanten and lacking in value.
When we take a look at Daigo’s hand, he draws a 2p to fill in a kanchan on his first turn. He has a pair of souths, a critical pair that he needs to upgrade to a triplet.
On his very next turn, he draws a third south to get to 2-shanten. With a yaku secured, all he has to do is rush it.
However, none of Daigo’s calling tiles come to him. Instead, Nakabayashi is able to draw very well and transform his hand to 2-shanten by the end of the first row.
For Sonoda, he is iishanten, but still lacking.
And for Daigo, he is iishanten as well, needing a 5p, 7p, 2s or 5s for tenpai.
On turn 8. Daigo draws the 2s. Needing to choose between a 5p or 7p kanchan, Daigo chooses to take the 7p as his wait. A win would win the championship.
Two turns later, Nkaabayashi draws the red 5m for value and calls riichi on a 58s ryanmen, guaranteed at least 3/30 if he wins. If he gets a direct hit off either Daigo or Sonoda and gets one more han on top of that (for dealer mangan), it will move the U-Next Pirates into championship position.
During the ippatsu round, Sonoda joins in and calls riichi on an 8m/2s shanpon. With Nakabayashi’s riichi stick, Sonoda can win by tsumo or direct hit off Daigo and take the championship.
Unfortunately, none of his winning tiles remain in the wall.
Right after. Daigo draws a dangerous 7m. The risk of dealing into either Sonoda or Nakabayashi is big. And with the ippatsu turn, it is an even bigger hit and could boost Nakabayashi’s score should it deal in. But if it passes, he remains in tenpai and can end the game with a win.
Weighing all the factors, Daigo decides to step back and discard his east pair. If he can manage to pair up the 7m, he will return to a 7p tenpai.
Gifted by the gods, Daigo manages to do exactly that. On his next draw, he pairs up the 7m.
Daigo is back in tenpai for a 7p. He returns to being a threat.
On Sonoda’s very next turn, he gets it. He gets Daigo’s winning 7p.
Helplessly in riichi, Sonoda discards it.
With a ron, the game is over. South/Dora 1 for 2,600+900 plus three riichi sticks.
The Sega Sammy Phoenix have won the championship!
As the rest of the players are dismissed, Sonoda remains seated for a few extra seconds, reflecting on what just happened, the win that was within reach but did not happen.
When Sonoda finally gets up and leaves, the rest of the Sega Sammy Phoenix team enters the studio. With cheers and hugs and tears in their eyes, they celebrate the team’s first-ever championship win.
Final Scores
Standings
With this win by MVP Daigo, the Sega Sammy Phoenix win their first-ever championship. Coming in 2nd place and winning 20 million yen are the U-Next Pirates. Just 5.7pts behind them and getting a 10 million yen prize are the Akasaka Drivens. And in 4th and missing out on the money is Team Raiden, finish just negative.
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