Top 5 Plays of M-League 2021-22

Every season, there are plays and wins that grab your attention and get you excited. They can be high-scoring hands, intriguing games and even an incredible fold. With the upcoming season just a week away, let’s take a look back and see my choices for the top 5 plays of the M-League 2021-22 season.

Continue reading “Top 5 Plays of M-League 2021-22”

M-League 2022-23 Schedules and Calendars

In a news release published on August 26, M-League revealed the schedule for the 2022-23 season.

The M-League 2022-23 regular season will start on October 3, 2022 and end on March 21, 2023. Games will be played each week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 1900 JST, with the exception of the final games of the regular season, when there will only be games on the Monday and Tuesday.

This season, the number of games in the regular season has increased from 180 games (90 days, 90 games per team) to 188 games (94 days, 94 games per team). For the semifinals, they will now be 30 games long (15 days, 20 games per team) instead of 24 games (12 days, 16 games per team) in previous seasons. For the finals, the final four teams will battle it out over 16 games (8 days) instead of 12 games (6 days). In total, 18 additional games (9 days) have been added to the 2022-23 season.

For your convenience, I have created a Google Calendar of the schedule (with times in JST), as well as one for each team. There is also an iCalendar (.ics) file that you can download to put the schedule on your computer’s calendar.

Any mistakes are purely my own. If there is any discrepancy between the calendar and the official M-League schedule, the official M-League schedule is correct. For those wondering, the featured image above with the nice format was released in an official M-League press release with the image being found here.

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)


Akasaka Drivens

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)


EX Furinkazan

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)

Kadokawa
Sakura Knights

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)

Konami Mahjong
Fight Club

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)

Sega Sammy
Phoenix

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)


Shibuya Abemas

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)


Team Raiden

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)


U-Next Pirates

(Google Calendar, iCalendar)

Suzuki Yu, Shibukawa Nanba and Nakabayashi Kei Chosen in M-League Draft

On July 11, 2022, The M-League 2022-23 Draft took place. The event was livestreamed on YouTube (requires VPN) and the results were also put up on Twitter and the official M-League website.

U-Next Pirates 1st Pick: Suzuki Yu (鈴木優)

Professional Organization: Saikouisen
Pro League: A1
Titles: 46th Saikoui

For the U-Next Pirates‘ first pick, they chose Suzuki Yu (鈴木優) from Saikouisen. Suzuki Yu has been in the spotlight this past year after winning the Saikouisen league title. Previously, he was also in the final 16 of the Mahjong Saikyousen.

Yu had so many emotions at the time that he had trouble gathering his thoughts, but thanked everyone for the congratulations.

Later, he appeared on a Saikouisen stream where they celebrated his drafting.

Kadokawa Sakura Knights 1st Pick: Shibukawa Nanba (渋川難波)

Professional Organization: NPM
Pro League: A1
Titles: 20th Mahjong King, 11th Mahjong Dragon, 16th Nihon Open

For the Kadokawa Sakura Knights‘ pick, they chose Shibukawa Nanba (渋川難波) from Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM). Shibukawa is a familiar face to those who watch M-League, being a commentator for the league for the past two seasons. His strength at the mahjong table has been proven through his NPM league games, where he is the current NPM League title holder. In addition, he won the 20th Mahjong King Tournament, the 11th Mahjong Dragon Tournament and the 16th Nihon Open.

Upon hearing the news, Shibukawa chose to express his gratitude with a simple “Arigatou Gozaimasu!!!”

Soon after, he hosted a celebratory livestream.

U-Next Pirates 2nd Pick: Nakabayashi Kei (仲林圭)

Professional Organization: NPM
Pro League: A1
Titles: 29th Dragon King, 10th Mahjong Dragon, 7th Autumn Challenge Cup

For the Pirates’ 2nd pick, they went with Nakabayashi Kei (仲林圭) from Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM). Nakabayashi is the current Dragon King title holder. The title win wasn’t just a one-time event, as he is currently an NPM A1-Leaguer, as well as winning the 10th Mahjong Dragon tournament and the 7th Autumn Challenge Cup.

For the draft, Nakabayashi was streaming the results and reacting to them. When his name was called, He cheered and repeatedly sayid “Maji!?” (No way! Really!? Seriously!?)

And those are the three newest M-Leaguers! Congratulations to Suzuki Yu, Shibukawa Nanba and Nakabayashi Kei for being drafted! How will they do in the league? How well will their teams do? What strategies will their opponents use to beat them? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!

M-League 2022-23 Draft

As the summer season begins, so does the M-League 2022-23 preseason! And with every preseason, the opportunity to draft some new players is upon us with the M-League Draft! Today, we’ll be taking a look at when it will happen, who will be able to draft and who could be drafted.

The Draft

The M-League 2022-23 Draft will take place on July 11, 2022. Unlike previous years, the draft will not be streamed live on Abema TV’s Mahjong Channel. Instead, the information will be posted on the M-League website and the M-League Twitter after the draft meeting has finished.

EDIT: In a news release published on June 7, M-League announced that it has reversed its decision and will now be broadcasting the draft on their YouTube channel on July 11, 2022 at 1900 JST.

Drafting Order

The U-Next Pirates (with the departure of Asakura and Ishibashi) and Kadokawa Sakura Knights (with the departure of Sawazaki) will both have the ability to draft players this season.

For the first round, the order will be the following

  1. U-Next Pirates
  2. Kadokawa Sakura Knights

For the second round onwards (i.e. for the U-Next Pirates’ second pick), the order will be the reverse rank order of the M-League 2021-22 Season.

Image from Mahjong Watch

Potential Candidates

All teams have the option to draft from any of the five supporting professional mahjong organizations:

  • Japan Professional Mahjong Federation (JPML)
  • Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM)
  • Saikouisen
  • Mahjong Union (Mu/μ!)
  • Real Mahjong Unit (RMU)

Note: M-League Watch predictions to follow. Teams are not limited to the players listed below, nor are they guarantees of any player being drafted.

U-Next Pirates

The U-Next Pirates are known to be a digital team. Asakura Koushin is the first Tenhoui (highest rank for the online mahjong website Tenhou.net) and Ishibashi Nobuhiro is the author of “Black Digital Mahjong”. As such, the U-Next Pirates are likely going to choose a player that has a large online presence or has done well on online mahjong.

If they want to choose a Tenhoui to replace Asakura, they have a few options:

In addition, they may choose amongst other players that have played or are currently playing in the Tenhoui Meijinsen competition (Kobayashi, Asakura and Ishibashi have previously played in the invitational competition), such as:

According to a poll done by Mahjong Watch, Shibukawa Nanba, Suzuki Yu and Daigo Hiroshi are the fans’ top 3 choices.

Kadokawa Sakura Knights

With the exception of Okada Sayaka, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights have chosen players that were already in the top league of the organization. Both Uchikawa and Sawazki were JPML A1-Leaguers, while Hori Shingo had just won the NPM League title. The current title holders for their respective leagues are as follows:

In addition, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights may also choose to players who are currently in A-League or have previously won the league title. Some popular players include:

In the Mahjong Watch poll, the top three fan choices for the Kadokawa Sakura Knights are Nakabayashi Kei, Shibukawa Nanba and Daigo Hiroshi (it is theorized that Shibukawa is lower because of the assumption that the Pirates will choose him as their first pick).

And that’s all you need to know! Who will have the privilege to become the next M-Leaguers? How will they do in the upcoming season? As always we’ll just have to wait and see!

Sawazaki Makoto Will Not Play Next Season, Contract Will Expire

On June 30, it was announced that the Kadokawa Sakura Knights would not be renewing Sawazaki Makoto‘s contract, meaning that he will not be playing for the Kadokawa Sakura Knights in the 2022-23 season.

In a letter posted on Twitter, the team noted that Sawazaki has been making a good recovery after his hospitalization earlier this year, but the mental and physical load of M-League, as well as other team activities, may be overbearing as he recovers. As a result, they decided not to renew Sawazaki’s contract.

Sawazaki Makoto was the 3rd round pick of the Sakura Knight in the team’s first season in 2019. In his first year as an M-Leaguer, he was a big help in scoring points, scoring +234.3pt and placing 5th overall in the individual standings. In the 2021-22 season, his team managed to get to the finals for the second year in a row and placed 2nd overall. In the 2022-23 season, his was a big contributor to the team’s success, he placed 2nd in the individual standings and scored +399.7pt. With the big start, his teammates played their best and the team eventually won their first ever championship.

In a Twitter thread, Sawazaki expressed his disappointment of not being able to help the team in the finals, but was proud of the work that he and his teammates were able to do to win the championship. He thanked the fans for all the encouragement and that he is truly grateful for it. As he recovers, he says that he will continue to play mahjong on Ron2 and the Mahjong Fight Club arcade games, as well as in professional league tournaments.

Soon after the news was released, his teammates tweeted out messages. They described Sawazaki as a team mainstay and a father. They said that they will keep the lessons that he had taught with them and that they would continue what he had started.

With the Kadokawa Sakura Knights only having three players on the team, they will having to draft one more player during the draft in early July.

The M-League Watch Team would like to wish Sawazaki well though his continued recovery and wish him luck with all his future mahjong endeavours.

Asakura Koushin, Ishibashi Nobuhiro Dropped by U-Next Pirates

On June 10, 2022, the U-Next Pirates announced that they will be renewing the contracts for Kobayashi Go and Mizuhara Akina, but will not be renewing the contracts for Asakura Koushin and Ishibashi Nobuhiro for the M-League 2022-23 Season.

Starting in the 2020-21 Season, a new rule was set in place stating that a team that does not make the finals two years in a row with the same players is forced to change their roster. As the Pirates failed to make the finals in the 2020-21 and the 2021-22 Seasons (placing 7th and 6th, respectively), they were forced to remove at least one player this off-season.

In M-League’s inaugural season, both Asakura and Ishibashi were drafted by the U-Next Pirates as the team’s original crew, with Asakura being the 2nd round pick and Ishibashi being the team’s 3rd round pick after they failed to get Suzuki Taro due to a random draw with two other teams.

In the 2019-20 Season, both Asakura and Ishibashi were major contributors to the Pirates’ success. For Asakura, he won a Daisangen in Game 5 to give the team a well-needed points boost. For Ishibashi, he was the top performer in the semifinals and won Game 11 in the finals to help the team win their first championship.

However, both of them have had their struggles in M-League. Asakura had triple-digit negatives in the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 season, as well dead hands from a false tsumo and a 237s chii. Ishibashi struggled a lot in the regular season, failing to finish any of his four seasons in positive territory.

In Asakura’s note, he apologized for not being able to do more for the team and thanked everyone for the past four years. He also said that he will do his best as both a Youtuber and as a new father.

In a tweet and his note, Ishibashi said he was disappointed by the result and also thanked the everyone for their support and all the wonderful experiences over the past four years.

Kobayashi thanked both of them for the lessons that they taught and that he will be sad that they will no longer be playing together. Mizuhara said that she will run as best as she can with the baton that was passed to her.

With the departure of Asakura and Ishibashi, the U-Next Pirates will have two drafts picks in the M-League 2022 Draft.

The M-League Watch team would like to wish Asakura and Ishibashi success in life and all of their future mahjong activities.

M-League 2022-23 Preseason: June Update

Though the M-League season ended in late April, a lot of M-League activity has happened since then! From a special match to rule changes to qualifiers, we were treated with a lot of M-League news since the end of the season. With a lot to go over, let’s get right into it, shall we?

Noodle Noodle Deciding Match

On April 28, just two days after the Kadokawa Sakura Knights won the championship, the Noodle Noodle Deciding Match (麺麺位決定戦) sponsored by Nissin Foods was played. This pre-recorded event featured

These four players played one hanchan to see who would become the Noodle Noodle Champion!

For this game, they used a special set which featured elements related to Nissin Foods

  • The “Manzu” (萬) were replaced with “Menzu”(麺), meaning “noodles”
  • The “Pinzu” were replaced by “Donzu”, named after Nissin’s donbei udon bowls
  • The “Souzu” were replaced by “Sauce”, pertaining to the sauce on the Nissin UFO Yakisoba
    • The 1-Sauce tile that is normally a bird now features Hiyoko-chan, the Nissin Mascot.
  • The winds were replaced by the the four characters that make up the Nissin Foods (日清食品) name. These are also used for seat positions and round winds as well.
    • 日 (nichi) replaces the east
    • 清 (shin) replaces the south
    • 食 (shoku) replaces the west
    • 品 (hin) replaces the north
  • The characters for ”Hungry” (ハングリー) are put together to create the green dragon
  • The Nissin foods logo is used to create the red dragon

There was a lot of fun in the match, from Maruyama bringing a small plush of Hiyoko-chan to Kobayashi Misa and Shibukawa Nanba trying to stay on script and use the proper Nissin suits and tiles. The game was quite close until the end of the game, but Kobayashi managed to win the game due to tenpai payment in Shin 4. With the win, Kobayashi became the Noodle Noodle champion!

M-League Team Documentaries

M-League has released documentaries for all eight M-League teams, showing the daily life and game preparations of each team member. Though the documentaries require Abema Premium to watch, you can view a 15 minute preview going over all the documentaries for free.

Four Player Requirement

In an announcement released on June 1, the M-League released a small but significant update. Starting in the 2022-23 season, all teams must have four players. This differs from the previous two season, where each team is allowed to have either three or four players. This means that if any team drops a player, they must fill that spot.

Saikyousen 2022: M-League Special Match

At the end of the regular season, the Saikyousen 2022: M-League Special Match was announced. Each team will send one player to the special match and the winner of the competition will go to the finals of the Mahjong Saikyousen 2022, a big mahjong tournament in Japan with a 3 million yen grand prize and 16 players playing in the finals.

For the Konami Mahjong Fight Club, they played two hanchans to figure out who they would send. After the winning both hanchans, Takizawa Kazunori came out on top and booked his ticket to the special match

The Sega Sammy Phoenix played a single hanchan to determine who they would send. Kondo Seiichi won the match and was

The other teams chose who they would send without a match and announced it on Twitter.

  • Sonoda Ken for the Akasaka Drivens
    • Maruyama Kanako already qualified for the Saikyousen finals through “Saikyousen Strongest Female Champion” tournament
  • Okada Sayaka for the Kadokawa Sakura Knights
  • Shiratori Sho for the Shibuya Abemas
  • Hagiwara Masato for Team Raiden
    • Setokuma Naoki already qualified for the Saikyousen finals by winning the 2021 Saikyousen
    • Kurosawa Saki already qualified for the Saikyousen finals by winning the “Saikyousen Mister Mahjong Cup”
  • Mizuhara Akina for the U-Next Pirates

At the time of writing, the EX Furinkazan have not yet chosen their player, but they will be playing one hanchan on June 2 at 1300 JST to determine who they will be sending.

Contract Signing

During the off-season, all teams will have to determine who will stay on the team and who will be leaving. The deadline to announce a player’s intention to re-sign or allow the contract to expire is June 10.

On April 11, the EX Furinkazan announced that they will be keeping all their players.

On May 12, Team Raiden tweeted that they will be fighting with the same crew next season

On May 17, the Sega Sammy Phoenix announced that they will be keeping all their players as well

That leaves the Akasaka Driven, Kadokawa Sakura Knights, Konami Mahjong Fight Club, Shibuya Abemas and U-Next Pirates to decide who will stay and who will go.

For the U-Next Pirates, they are forced to replace someone because they failed to make the finals two season in a row.

Upcoming Schedule

  • June 5: Saikyousen 2022: M-League Special Match (Requires VPN)
  • June 10: Deadline to announce contract continuation and/or expiry (with the exception of Sawazaki Makoto, where the deadline is June 30 due to Sawazaki’s hospitalization)
  • Early July: M-League 2022-23 Draft
  • August: Contract signing and team composition finalization for the 2022-23 season
  • October: M-League 2022-23 Season begins

And that’s all the M-League action since the end of the season! Which players will stay in the league? How will the M-League Special Match turn out? Who will be drafted? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!

M-League 2021-22 Finals: Games #11-12 and the Awards Ceremony

This is it. The final day of the M-League 2021-22 Season. After 214 games of M-League action, it all comes down to Game #215 and Game #216. By the end of the day, we find out which team will be crowned the newest M-League champions. With two games and and an award ceremony cover, let’s get right to it, shall we?

Before the Games

Our commentators of the day were the inseparable duo of Hiyoshi Tatsuya and Tsuchida Kousho.

For the second time this season, M-League hosted a public viewing event. Players went to the Bellesalle in Roppongi to watch the action together.

After a recap of the action on Monday, we were show the standings going into the final day.

The two frontrunners are extremely close, being separated by only 2.6pts. Still within striking range are the Shibuya Abemas, with the Konami Mahjong Fight Club in the negatives.

After the final introduction, the games began!

Intro | Game #11 | Game #12
Awards Ceremony | Final Thoughts

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M-League 2021-22 Finals: Games #9-10

Day 5 of the M-League 2021-22 Finals marked the final Monday of the season. And though Mondays have the reputation of being the most hated day of the week, the games we watched on Monday made the day awesome! Today, we saw tenpai battles, lucky ura and lots of bonus sticks. We also saw a yakuman tenpai, another yakuman tenpai and a tie! There’s a lot of action to get into, so let’s get right into it, shall we?

Before the Games

The commentator of the day was the always exciting Hiyoshi Tatsuya. Joining him was Shibukawa Nanba from Nihon Pro Mahjong (NPM). After a recap of the results on Friday, we took a look at the standings.

The Sega Sammy Phoenix have a good lead over the Kadokawa Sakura Knights, but a 1st from the Sakura Knights would be enough to overtake them. The Shibuya Abemas and Konami Mahjong Fight Club are behind, but cannot be counted out with four more games to go.

With everyone raring to go, everyone got going!

Intro | Game #9 | Game #10

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