Round 31 of the 2026-27 regular season, Thursday, November 5. Setokuma Naoki (TEAM RAIDEN) started the of the first game in third place, needing a tsumo to pass two players. He drew it, a closed for 2,000/4,000, and took his eighth top of the season. Takizawa Kazunori (KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club) scored +73.3, the biggest of the night, with a off Akutsu Shota (KADOKAWA Sakura Knights). Nikaido Aki (EX Furinkazan) won with in two straight hands. Sega Sammy Phoenix lost 100.6 across two games and dropped out of the top six.
Game 1: Setokuma (Raiden) +50.8 on table A, Nikaido (Furinkazan) +61.8 on table B. Game 2: Takizawa (Fight Club) +73.3 on table A, Watanabe Futoshi (Akasaka Drivens) +56.3 on table B.
Results at a glance
| Game | Place | Player | Team | pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | 1st | Setokuma Naoki | TEAM RAIDEN | +50.8 |
| 1A | 2nd | HIRO Shibata | EARTH JETS | +8.7 |
| 1A | 3rd | Sasaki Hisato | KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | -16.8 |
| 1A | 4th | Okada Sayaka | KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | -42.7 |
| 1B | 1st | Nikaido Aki | EX Furinkazan | +61.8 |
| 1B | 2nd | Oi Takaharu | Shibuya ABEMAS | +5.0 |
| 1B | 3rd | Sonoda Ken | Akasaka Drivens | -15.6 |
| 1B | 4th | Sano Hinako | Sega Sammy Phoenix | -51.2 |
| 2A | 1st | Takizawa Kazunori | KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | +73.3 |
| 2A | 2nd | Honda Tomohiro | TEAM RAIDEN | +17.2 |
| 2A | 3rd | Ishii Kazuma | EARTH JETS | -26.7 |
| 2A | 4th | Akutsu Shota | KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | -63.8 |
| 2B | 1st | Watanabe Futoshi | Akasaka Drivens | +56.3 |
| 2B | 2nd | Nikaido Aki | EX Furinkazan | +10.1 |
| 2B | 3rd | Oi Takaharu | Shibuya ABEMAS | -17.0 |
| 2B | 4th | Kayamori Sayaka | Sega Sammy Phoenix | -49.4 |
Table A, game 1: Setokuma's tsumo from third
Okada Sayaka (KADOKAWA Sakura Knights) riichi'd first in east 1 on a , Sasaki Hisato (KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club) chased, and she dealt into his hand: , , a and two red fives, 8,000. HIRO Shibata (EARTH JETS) won a three-way race in east 2, two , with , a dora and two red fives, 2,000/4,000, and led at 36,600.
East 3 was Setokuma's hand, and the kinmaweb match report is about how he played it. He held pairs of and and declined to either, a haku from Sasaki and then a hatsu from Okada, because he didn't trust his other block and wanted a riichi on a more than a quick open tenpai. Sasaki riichi'd first. Right after, Setokuma drew the last hatsu and was tenpai on 1-4p, with the 1p already in Sasaki's river. He riichi'd anyway. Sasaki, locked in riichi, drew one of them the next turn and had to cut it: riichi, , hatsu, 6,400 to Setokuma. In the post-game interview the report quotes, he said these weren't opponents you beat with tricks, and that he wanted a wait he wouldn't regret dealing in on.
Then Okada won twice from riichi, 1,300/2,600 and 500/1,000, and the south round slipped away from him. In south 3 Setokuma riichi'd on a on turn seven, Sasaki chased and caught him: riichi, haku, a dora, 5,200. Going into the all-last Setokuma was third on 21,800, with Shibata on 32,700 and Sasaki on 26,200. A mangan tsumo would pass both.
Sasaki riichi'd on turn four with a and five winning tiles live, any one of them a top for him. Setokuma kept collecting . He drew the 8m, outside , kept it and cut a safe 8s instead. The next draw, a 4s, let him take tenpai, and he pushed the 8m. The draw after that was the 7s: tsumo, , 2,000/4,000, plus Sasaki's riichi stick. 30,800 to Shibata's 28,700. His eighth top, more than anyone else this season by the report's count. Shibata's run of four straight wins ended in second place.
Table B, game 1: Nikaido's back-to-back mangan, Oi's 2m
Oi Takaharu (Shibuya ABEMAS) started with the hand of the game and lost it. Dealer in east 1 with one , he held three dora and two red fives, a dealer if it came in. Sonoda Ken (Akasaka Drivens) riichi'd first on a , and Oi's next draw was Sonoda's winning tile. He cut it: riichi, , , tanyao, an ura dora, 8,000, 8,300 with the honba. Oi was last on 17,700. Sonoda added 1,300/2,600 from riichi in east 2 and led at 37,500.
Nikaido Aki (EX Furinkazan) took the lead as dealer in east 4. She ron'd Sonoda for 3,900 with haku and a red five. In the next hand, still dealer with two honba, she riichi'd on turn eight with pinfu and . Oi chased on a with a dora and a red five. Sano Hinako (Sega Sammy Phoenix) made it three riichi. Nikaido drew the last 4p, Oi's tile, and dealt in: riichi, a dora, a red five, 5,200, 5,800 with the honba. The kinmaweb match report notes that three of the four 4p were visible from her seat, one in the river and two in her own hand.
She took the south round anyway. In south 2 she riichi'd first, dealer Sano chased through tiles outside , and Sano dealt in: riichi, pinfu, tanyao, a red five, 8,000. South 3: Nikaido riichi'd on turn three, Sonoda chased the next turn, and his declaration tile was her winner. Riichi, ippatsu, pinfu, an ura dora, 8,000 again. She had 41,800 and the game. Her last five games had all ended third or fourth.
The all-last was a fight for second. Sonoda had 24,400, Oi 22,700. Sano riichi'd first from 11,100. Oi drew the 4m. Cutting the 2m from his hand would have given him tenpai, and the kinmaweb match report says most players would have cut it as the safe-looking tile. A read would have made the 2m safe. Oi weighed the shanpon her 1m declaration tile allowed, held the 2m, and cut the 8m instead. Then he drew the last 3m for a concealed triplet and tenpai, and sat , because Sano's riichi stick already covered the 1,700 gap. Sano dealt him the 7p: tanyao, 1,300, plus her stick. 25,000 to Sonoda's 24,400, second by 600. The 2m was Sano's winning tile.
Table A, game 2: Takizawa wins the first hand and the last
Takizawa Kazunori (KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club) won the first hand and the last. Honda Tomohiro (TEAM RAIDEN) took the lead off him in east 4 and held it until the in south 2. Dealer Akutsu riichi'd first on pinfu in east 1, Takizawa chased and drew it: riichi, tsumo, pinfu, a dora and two red fives, 3,000/6,000. South 1: he called the dora hatsu and tsumo'd 2,000/4,000 with three dora. South 2 was the baiman. He riichi'd on with two dora and a red five, Akutsu dealt in, and two ura dora made it 16,000. That put him on 53,300. The all-last was one more riichi and 1,300 off Honda to close it.
Honda owned the middle of the game. His open tanyao with two dora and two red fives caught Akutsu's riichi in east 3 for 8,000, and as dealer in east 4 he tsumo'd riichi, ippatsu, pinfu for 2,600 all, then 700 all with hatsu, and peaked at 45,500. Akutsu was down to 2,600 by the third . He won 2,000/4,000 from riichi in east 4 with three honba and the sticks to get back to 13,500, then dealt Takizawa's baiman in south 2 and went below zero. Nobody busts in M-League. He played on from -6,500, tsumo'd 700/1,300 in south 3, and finished on -3,800 and -63.8, the worst score of the night. Ishii Kazuma (Jets) won nothing and finished third on 13,300.
Table B, game 2: Watanabe wins on two open hands
Two days after his six-riichi night, Watanabe Futoshi (Akasaka Drivens) won a game on two called hands. Only two of the ten hands were won from riichi. Nikaido's 2,000/4,000 tsumo in east 3, two dora and a red five, put her in front early. Watanabe took the lead in south 1 with two honba: Oi riichi'd on pinfu, Kayamori Sayaka (Sega Sammy Phoenix) chased, and Watanabe's open hand caught her with double south and a red five, 3,900. In south 3 with one honba he had three melds on the table and ron'd Kayamori again, north and a red five, 2,000, plus two sticks. Two called hands and the top, 36,300 and +56.3.
Kayamori dealt in three times and never to a riichi: 5,800 to Nikaido's open hand in south 1 with one honba, hatsu and two red fives, then Watanabe's two. A riichi tsumo in the all-last got 4,000 back. Not enough: 10,600 and -49.4.
Oi finished third on -17.0 and barely played. Kinmaweb's match report opens with the broadcast commentators, Hiyoshi asking whether Oi had been breaking up melds all game and Ishibashi joking that he was picking a fight with the AI. He folded the first two hands, the second almost from the deal, took 3,900 off Nikaido's riichi with an open tanyao in east 2, and riichi'd twice in the south round without a win.
Standings after round 31
| # | Team | pt | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KADOKAWA Sakura Knights | +354.6 | 48 |
| 2 | KONAMI Mahjong Fight Club | +195.0 | 46 |
| 3 | TEAM RAIDEN | +167.6 | 48 |
| 4 | BEAST X | +76.9 | 46 |
| 5 | Akasaka Drivens | -16.5 | 46 |
| 6 | U-NEXT Pirates | -48.7 | 46 |
| 7 | Sega Sammy Phoenix | -69.1 | 46 |
| 8 | Shibuya ABEMAS | -157.9 | 46 |
| 9 | EARTH JETS | -228.3 | 46 |
| 10 | EX Furinkazan | -273.6 | 46 |
Team totals for the night: Furinkazan +71.9, Raiden +68.0, Fight Club +56.5, Drivens +40.7, ABEMAS -12.0, Jets -18.0, Phoenix -100.6, Sakura Knights -106.5. BEAST X and U-NEXT Pirates had the night off. Phoenix fell from fifth to seventh and sit 20.4 behind Pirates for the last semifinal place. Drivens moved up to fifth. Sakura Knights still lead, but the gap to Fight Club is 159.6, down from 322.6 on Tuesday.
Setokuma's individual total is +495.9 from 12 games, average place 1.58, more than the leading team's +354.6. Honda is second at +272.1. Okada dropped to third at +255.1 after her -42.7.
Three things to take to your own table
Build the hand the condition asks for. Setokuma was third and needed a mangan tsumo. Closed honitsu plus the tsumo is four, and M-League's rule pays four han 30 fu as a mangan. Against a turn-four riichi he cut the tile outside suji only once a draw let him take tenpai, and cut safe the turn before. Work out the hand that meets your condition, then push only for that hand.
A safe-looking tile is only safe against a shape. Most players would have cut Oi's 2m in the all-last. A chiitoitsu read made it look safe. Oi weighed the shanpon her declaration tile allowed, held it, and the tile he held was her winner.
Open hands still hit. Kayamori's three deal-ins, 11,700 before honba, all went to open hands. When a player has called twice and is cutting middle tiles, read the hand as if the riichi stick were on the table.
Sources
Results and pt from kinmaweb's monthly results page (the league's own schedule page carried no result blocks on the day). Hand-by-hand from kinmaweb's text reports for table A, game 1, table B, game 1, table A, game 2 and table B, game 2, and its match reports on Setokuma's all-last, Oi's 2m and Oi's defence in game 2. Values cross-checked against jankaku's reports for table A and table B. Standings from kinmaweb's ranking page, updated November 5. The league hadn't posted its official highlight video for November 5 when this went live.
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