M.League: Difference between revisions

From Japanese Mahjong Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
VisualWikitext
m (Would be better to preserve the upper/lower cases for brand/org names, when they're in the introduction section. Still follows general orthography in articles to reduce difficulties of reading and writing.)
 
(113 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Infobox organization
{{Infobox organization
|image        = [[Image:MLeagueLogo.png|150px]]
| image        = [[Image:MLeagueLogo.png|150px]]
|imagecaption = M League logo
| imagecaption = M.League logo
|country     = Japan
| country     = Japan
|location   =  
| location     =  
|inception   = 2018
| inception   = 2018
|leader     = Mr. Susumu Fujita, Chairman <br />(Founder/President of CyberAgent)
| leader       = Mr. Susumu Fujita, Chairman <br/>(Founder/President of CyberAgent)
|membercount = 21 (drafted pros)
| membercount = 9 teams
}}
}}
The '''M League''' is a [[List of Japanese organizations|professional mahjong]] team league. Players are fielded from the various mahjong professional leagues. The inaugural draft was held on August 7, 2018.
'''M.LEAGUE''' {{kana|Mリーグ}} is a [[List of Japanese organizations|professional mahjong]] league founded in 2018. It is a team competition: teams draft players from various mahjong organizations, then compete over a season to reach the top. It is the first league that pays a salary to its mahjong players; each team is sponsored by a company.


==Teams==
== Format ==
The main format of the competition is made up of a regular season and a post-season. The basic format of the season varies in the number of hanchan played.
 
=== Current format ===
There are nine teams, with four players per team. The regular season lasts 108 days for 216 hanchan (96 hanchan per team). After the final day of the regular season, the top six teams advance to the semifinals, where they play 30 hanchan on a 15-day schedule (20 hanchan per team). In the finals, the top four teams play another round of 16 hanchan on an 8-day schedule.
 
== Rules ==
The game rules are given in the Official M.League Rules {{kana|[https://m-league.jp/about/ Mリーグの公式戦ルール]}}. All games are played in the form of [[hanchan]] using [[AMOS|AMOS brand]] professional [[Automatic mahjong table|mahjong tables]].
 
=== Game day ===
Each game day session consists of two hanchan. Each team that is scheduled to play will send one team member per hanchan. If desired, one player may play both hanchan.
 
=== Game rules ===
The rules follow the general riichi mahjong rules with [[Rule variations|special competition settings]].
 
The starting score is 25,000 points; the target score is 30,000 points. The bonus of [[oka and uma]] is +50/+10/-10/-30. <ref>The official rule book noted them as ''rank score point'' {{kana|順位点}} altogether. It's the mixture of uma +30/+10/-10/-30 and oka +20.</ref>
 
==== Notable rule variations ====
* [[Oka_and_uma#Tie-breaker|Tie]]: Bonus point spilts evenly to tied players.
* [[Tobi|Bankruptcy]]: Not applied.
* [[Enchousen|Extended rounds]]: Not applied.
* Multiple ron: Not available. [[Atamahane]] is used.
* [[Fu]]: [[Kazehai|Double-wind pair]] worths 2 fu.
* [[Ryuukyoku]]: No abortive draws.
* [[Dora]]:
** [[Akadora]]: Three tiles. One for each 5-man / 5-pin / 5-sou.
** [[Kandora]]: Always flips immediately regardless of the type of kan, as long as the call is valid. When [[chankan]] happens, kandora will not be flipped.
* [[Yakuman]]:
** [[Counted yakuman]]: Not applied. Regular yaku scoring is capped to [[sanbaiman]].
** Double yakuman: Not applied. Only scores the regular version for [[suuankou tanki]] / [[Kokushi musou|kokushi 13-wait]] / [[Chuuren poutou|junsei chuuren poutou]]. [[Daisuushi]] also worths single yakuman.
** Composite yakuman: Applied. Yakuman yaku can be stacked together.
** [[Sekinin barai]]: Applies to [[daisangen]], [[daisuushi]] and [[suukantsu]]. Suukantsu's pao only applies to the case where [[sankantsu]] is completed while fourth kan is [[daiminkan]].
 
==== Penalty ====
M.League has four types of penalties: [[chombo]], [[dead hand]], yellow card and red card.
 
== Draft ==
Before the start of each season, a day is set for team drafts. Teams select from a field of players from the various professional organizations. During the inaugural draft (2018), each team made their player selections. For each year thereafter, teams had the option of drafting new players or otherwise passing on the opportunity. Beginning with the 2022–23 season, passing is no longer allowed.
 
== Announcers ==
 
=== Main ===
* [[Tatsuya Hiyoshi]]
* [[Misa Kobayashi]]
* [[Momo Matsushima]]
 
=== Guest ===
Several guest commentators appear on the program. The most regular guest commentator is [[Koushou Tsuchida]]. Other commentators may be either current league players, former members, or other mahjong professionals.
 
== M.League Studio ==
The league has its own studio for games and broadcasts, located in Hamamatsuchou, Minato, Tokyo. All games during a season take place in the M.League studio.
 
A [[jansou]] called M.League Stadium is open to the public in Takadanobaba.
 
== Teams ==
As of the 2023–24 season, there are nine teams competing in the league. Each team must have four players drafted from five professional mahjong organizations: [[Saikouisen Nihon Pro Mahjong]], the [[Japan Professional Mahjong League]] (JPML), [[Nihon Pro Mahjong Kyoukai]] (NPM), [[Mahjong Union]] (MU), and [[Real Mahjong Unit]] (RMU).
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Overview of M.League teams
|-
! colspan=2 | Team !! Company sponsor !! class="unsortable" | Players !! Joined
|-
| [[Image:Team Drivens logo.png|100px|center]] || [[Akasaka Drivens]] || Hakuhodo DY Media Partners || [[Ken Sonoda]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />[[Taro Suzuki]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />[[Maki Asami]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />[[Futoshi Watanabe]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small> || 2018–19
|-
| [[Image:Team Beast logo.png|100px|center]] || [[Beast X]] || BSJapanext<ref>Sponsor name is planned to change to ''BS10'' since January 2025.</ref> || [[Masatoshi Sarukawa]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Hiroe Sugawara]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Daisuke Suzuki]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Kana Nakada]] <small>(JPML)</small> || 2023–24
|-
| [[Image:Team Furinkazan logo.png|100px|center]] || [[EX Furinkazan]] || TV Asahi || [[Aki Nikaido]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Kenji Katsumata]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Takaya Matsugase]] <small>(RMU)</small><br />[[Rumi Nikaido]] <small>(JPML)</small> || 2018–19
|-
| [[Image:Team Sakura Knights logo.png|100px|center]]|| [[Kadokawa Sakura Knights]] || Kadokawa || [[Kotaro Uchikawa]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Sayaka Okada]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Shingo Hori]] <small>(NPM)</small><br />Nanba Shibukawa <small>(NPM)</small> || 2019–20
|-
| [[Image:Team Fight Club.png|100px|center]] || [[Konami Mahjong Fight Club]] || Konami Amusement || [[Hisato Sasaki]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Mari Takamiya]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Arisa Date]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Kazunori Takizawa]] <small>(JPML)</small> || 2018–19
|-
| [[Image:Team Phoenix logo.png|100px|center]] || [[SegaSammy Phoenix]] || Sega Sammy Holdings || [[Sayaka Kayamori]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />[[Hiroshi Daigo]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />[[Genta Takeuchi]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />[[Takaki Asai]] <small>(NPM)</small> || 2018–19
|-
| [[Image:Team Abemas logo.png|100px|center]] || [[Shibuya Abemas]] || CyberAgent || [[Takaharu Ooi]] <small>(RMU)</small><br />[[Sho Shiratori]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Yoshihiro Matsumoto]] <small>(NPM)</small><br />[[Aiko Hinata]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small> || 2018–19
|-
| [[Image:Team Raiden logo.png|100px|center]] || [[Team Raiden]] || Dentsu || [[Masato Hagiwara]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Naoki Setokuma]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Saki Kurosawa]] <small>(JPML)</small><br />[[Tomohiro Honda]] <small>(JPML)</small> || 2018–19
|-
| [[Image:Team Pirates logo.png|100px|center]] || [[U-Next Pirates]] || U-Next || [[Go Kobayashi]] <small>(MU)</small><br />[[Akina Mizuhara]] <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />Yu Suzuki <small>(Saikouisen)</small><br />Kei Nakabayashi <small>(NPM)</small> || 2018–19
|}
 
== Seasons ==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Team name !! Company sponsor !! Players
! Season !! Start Date !! End Date !! Winner !! Runner-up !! Top regular season player
|-
|-
| Akasaka Drivens || Hakuhodo DY media partners || [[Ken Sonoda]] (Saikouisen)<br> [[Jun Murakami]] (Saikouisen)<br> [[Taro Suzuki]] (Nihon Pro Mahjong Kyokai)
| [[2018 M.League season|2018–19]] || 2018-10-01 || 2019-03-31 || Akasaka Drivens || EX Furinkazan || Takaharu Ooi
|-
|-
| EX Furinkazan || TV Asahi || [[Aki Nikaido]] (JPML)<br> [[Kazunori Takizawa]] (JPML)<br> [[Kenji Katsumata]] (JPML)
| [[2019 M.League season|2019–20]] || 2019-09-30 || 2020-06-23 || U-Next Pirates || SegaSammy Phoenix || Yuumi Uotani
|-
|-
| Konami Mahjong Fight Club || KONAMI || [[Hisato Sasaki]] (JPML)<br>[[Mari Takamiya]] (JPML)<br> [[Yudai Maehara]] (JPML)
| [[2020 M.League season|2020–21]] || 2020-10-05 || 2021-05-18 || EX Furinkazan || Kadokawa Sakura Knights || Hisato Sasaki  
|-
|-
| Shibuya Abemas || CyberAgent || [[Takaharu Ooi]] (RMU)<br> [[Sho Shiratori]] (JPML)<br> [[Yoshihiro Matsumoto]] (Nihon Pro Mahjong Kyokai)
| [[2021 M.League season|2021–22]] || 2021-10-04 || 2022-04-26 || Kadokawa Sakura Knights || SegaSammy Phoenix || Akina Mizuhara
|-
|-
| SegaSammy Phoenix || SegaSammy || [[Yuumi Uotani]] (JPML)<br> [[Seiichi Kondo]] (Saikouisen)<br> [[Sayaka Kayamori]] (Saikouisen)
| [[2022 M.League season|2022–23]] || 2022-10-03 || 2023-05-19 || Shibuya Abemas || Konami Mahjong Fight Club || Arisa Date
|-
|-
| TEAM RAIDEN || Dentsu || [[Masato Hagiwara]] (JPML)<br>  [[Naoki Setokuma]] (JPML)<br> Saki Kurosawa (JPML)
| [[2023 M.League season|2023–24]] || 2023-09-18 || 2024-05-17 || U-Next Pirates || Akasaka Drivens || Yu Suzuki
|-
|-
| U-NEXT Pirates || U-Next || [[Go Kobayashi]] (Maujong Union)<br> [[ASAPIN|Koushin Asakura]] (Saikouisen)<br> [[Nobuhiro Ishibashi]] (Saikouisen)
| [[2024 M.League season|2024–25]] || 2024-09-16 ||  || || ||  
|}
|}


== Seasons ==
=== Top 10 hanchan scores ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rank !! Player !! Team !! Score !! Date || Season (Hanchan)
|-
| 1 || Taro Suzuki || Akasaka Drivens|| 132.8 || 2024-02-26 || 2023–24 (Reg 178)
|-
| 2 || Saki Kurosawa || Team Raiden || 132.7 || 2022-11-07 || 2022–23 (Reg 41)
|-
| 3 || Arisa Date || Konami Mahjong Fight Club || 125.5 || 2021-11-18 || 2021–22 (Reg 54)
|-
| 4 || Koushin Asakura || U-Next Pirates || 122.4 || 2021-12-02 || 2021–22 (Reg 70)
|-
| 5 || Hisato Sasaki || Konami Mahjong Fight Club || 118.2 || 2021-04-22 || 2020–21 (SF 14)
|-
| 6 || Yuumi Uotani || Sega Sammy Phoenix || 114.4 ||  2020-02-27 || 2019–20 (Reg 167)
|-
| 7 || Hisato Sasaki || Konami Mahjong Fight Club || 114.0 || 2021-02-18 || 2020–21 (Reg 154)
|-
| 8 || Yoshihiro Matsumoto || Shibuya Abemas || 113.7 || 2021-04-29 || 2020–21 (SF 22)
|-
| 9 || Shingo Hori || Kadokawa Sakura Knights || 112.9 || 2021-01-02 || 2020–21 (Reg 97)
|-
| 10 || Makoto Sawazaki || Kadokawa Sakura Knights || 112.1 || 2019-11-19 || 2019–20 (Reg 64)
|}
 
=== Yakuman ===
{{main|List of M.League yakuman}}
 
So far, all the yakuman scored fall under '''yakuman gosanke''': [[suuankou]], [[daisangen]], and [[kokushi musou]].  The most scored in a season was in the [[2019 M.League season|2019 season]] with eight.
 
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Yakuman counts (21 total)
|-
|-
! Season !! Dates !! Winner !! Top player
!colspan=2|Suuankou !! rowspan=2|Kokushi Musou !! rowspan=2|Daisangen
|-
|-
| [[1]] || || Akasaka Drivens || Takaharu Ooi
! Regular !! Tanki
|- style="text-align:center;"
| 11 || 3 || 3 || 4
|}
|}
== References ==
{{references}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
[[Category:Japanese organizations]]
* [https://m-league.jp/ Official site]
* [https://m-league.jp/ Official site]
: [https://m-league.jp/about Competition rules]
* [https://abema.tv/now-on-air/mahjong Mahjong channel] on Abema.tv
{{Youtube
{{Youtube
| url        = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBHvzjvii3kp4gd_gw6UEIA
| url        = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBHvzjvii3kp4gd_gw6UEIA
| linkname    = プロ麻雀リーグ「Mリーグ」発足
| linkname    = プロ麻雀リーグ「Mリーグ」発足
| description = M League channel
| description = M.League channel
}}
{{Youtube
| url        = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhzNeqWylE4
| linkname    = プロ麻雀リーグ「Mリーグ」発足
| description = M League promotional video
}}
}}
{{jpwiki|Mリーグ}}
<!-- https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-07-21/mahjong-is-now-officially-a-team-sport-in-japan/.134370 -->
<!-- https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-07-21/mahjong-is-now-officially-a-team-sport-in-japan/.134370 -->
* [https://mleaguewatch.wordpress.com/ M.League Watch]
: Blog covering game highlights
* [https://twitter.com/m_league_ Official Twitter]
* [https://twitter.com/mleague_results Results Twitter]
* [https://ml-stadium.jp/ M.League stadium]
{{Navbox MLeague}}
[[Category:MLeague]]
[[Category:Japanese organizations]]

Latest revision as of 11:19, 12 October 2024

M.League

M.League logo
Country Japan
Inception 2018
Leader Mr. Susumu Fujita, Chairman
(Founder/President of CyberAgent)
Members 9 teams

M.LEAGUE 「Mリーグ」 is a professional mahjong league founded in 2018. It is a team competition: teams draft players from various mahjong organizations, then compete over a season to reach the top. It is the first league that pays a salary to its mahjong players; each team is sponsored by a company.

Format

The main format of the competition is made up of a regular season and a post-season. The basic format of the season varies in the number of hanchan played.

Current format

There are nine teams, with four players per team. The regular season lasts 108 days for 216 hanchan (96 hanchan per team). After the final day of the regular season, the top six teams advance to the semifinals, where they play 30 hanchan on a 15-day schedule (20 hanchan per team). In the finals, the top four teams play another round of 16 hanchan on an 8-day schedule.

Rules

The game rules are given in the Official M.League Rules 「Mリーグの公式戦ルール」. All games are played in the form of hanchan using AMOS brand professional mahjong tables.

Game day

Each game day session consists of two hanchan. Each team that is scheduled to play will send one team member per hanchan. If desired, one player may play both hanchan.

Game rules

The rules follow the general riichi mahjong rules with special competition settings.

The starting score is 25,000 points; the target score is 30,000 points. The bonus of oka and uma is +50/+10/-10/-30. [1]

Notable rule variations

Penalty

M.League has four types of penalties: chombo, dead hand, yellow card and red card.

Draft

Before the start of each season, a day is set for team drafts. Teams select from a field of players from the various professional organizations. During the inaugural draft (2018), each team made their player selections. For each year thereafter, teams had the option of drafting new players or otherwise passing on the opportunity. Beginning with the 2022–23 season, passing is no longer allowed.

Announcers

Main

Guest

Several guest commentators appear on the program. The most regular guest commentator is Koushou Tsuchida. Other commentators may be either current league players, former members, or other mahjong professionals.

M.League Studio

The league has its own studio for games and broadcasts, located in Hamamatsuchou, Minato, Tokyo. All games during a season take place in the M.League studio.

A jansou called M.League Stadium is open to the public in Takadanobaba.

Teams

As of the 2023–24 season, there are nine teams competing in the league. Each team must have four players drafted from five professional mahjong organizations: Saikouisen Nihon Pro Mahjong, the Japan Professional Mahjong League (JPML), Nihon Pro Mahjong Kyoukai (NPM), Mahjong Union (MU), and Real Mahjong Unit (RMU).

Overview of M.League teams
Team Company sponsor Players Joined
Akasaka Drivens Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Ken Sonoda (Saikouisen)
Taro Suzuki (Saikouisen)
Maki Asami (Saikouisen)
Futoshi Watanabe (Saikouisen)		 2018–19
Beast X BSJapanext[2] Masatoshi Sarukawa (JPML)
Hiroe Sugawara (JPML)
Daisuke Suzuki (JPML)
Kana Nakada (JPML)		 2023–24
EX Furinkazan TV Asahi Aki Nikaido (JPML)
Kenji Katsumata (JPML)
Takaya Matsugase (RMU)
Rumi Nikaido (JPML)		 2018–19
Kadokawa Sakura Knights Kadokawa Kotaro Uchikawa (JPML)
Sayaka Okada (JPML)
Shingo Hori (NPM)
Nanba Shibukawa (NPM)		 2019–20
Konami Mahjong Fight Club Konami Amusement Hisato Sasaki (JPML)
Mari Takamiya (JPML)
Arisa Date (JPML)
Kazunori Takizawa (JPML)		 2018–19
SegaSammy Phoenix Sega Sammy Holdings Sayaka Kayamori (Saikouisen)
Hiroshi Daigo (Saikouisen)
Genta Takeuchi (Saikouisen)
Takaki Asai (NPM)		 2018–19
Shibuya Abemas CyberAgent Takaharu Ooi (RMU)
Sho Shiratori (JPML)
Yoshihiro Matsumoto (NPM)
Aiko Hinata (Saikouisen)		 2018–19
Team Raiden Dentsu Masato Hagiwara (JPML)
Naoki Setokuma (JPML)
Saki Kurosawa (JPML)
Tomohiro Honda (JPML)		 2018–19
U-Next Pirates U-Next Go Kobayashi (MU)
Akina Mizuhara (Saikouisen)
Yu Suzuki (Saikouisen)
Kei Nakabayashi (NPM)		 2018–19

Seasons

Season Start Date End Date Winner Runner-up Top regular season player
2018–19 2018-10-01 2019-03-31 Akasaka Drivens EX Furinkazan Takaharu Ooi
2019–20 2019-09-30 2020-06-23 U-Next Pirates SegaSammy Phoenix Yuumi Uotani
2020–21 2020-10-05 2021-05-18 EX Furinkazan Kadokawa Sakura Knights Hisato Sasaki
2021–22 2021-10-04 2022-04-26 Kadokawa Sakura Knights SegaSammy Phoenix Akina Mizuhara
2022–23 2022-10-03 2023-05-19 Shibuya Abemas Konami Mahjong Fight Club Arisa Date
2023–24 2023-09-18 2024-05-17 U-Next Pirates Akasaka Drivens Yu Suzuki
2024–25 2024-09-16

Top 10 hanchan scores

Rank Player Team Score Date Season (Hanchan)
1 Taro Suzuki Akasaka Drivens 132.8 2024-02-26 2023–24 (Reg 178)
2 Saki Kurosawa Team Raiden 132.7 2022-11-07 2022–23 (Reg 41)
3 Arisa Date Konami Mahjong Fight Club 125.5 2021-11-18 2021–22 (Reg 54)
4 Koushin Asakura U-Next Pirates 122.4 2021-12-02 2021–22 (Reg 70)
5 Hisato Sasaki Konami Mahjong Fight Club 118.2 2021-04-22 2020–21 (SF 14)
6 Yuumi Uotani Sega Sammy Phoenix 114.4 2020-02-27 2019–20 (Reg 167)
7 Hisato Sasaki Konami Mahjong Fight Club 114.0 2021-02-18 2020–21 (Reg 154)
8 Yoshihiro Matsumoto Shibuya Abemas 113.7 2021-04-29 2020–21 (SF 22)
9 Shingo Hori Kadokawa Sakura Knights 112.9 2021-01-02 2020–21 (Reg 97)
10 Makoto Sawazaki Kadokawa Sakura Knights 112.1 2019-11-19 2019–20 (Reg 64)

Yakuman

Main article: List of M.League yakuman

So far, all the yakuman scored fall under yakuman gosanke: suuankou, daisangen, and kokushi musou. The most scored in a season was in the 2019 season with eight.

Yakuman counts (21 total)
Suuankou Kokushi Musou Daisangen
Regular Tanki
11 3 3 4

References

  1. ↑ The official rule book noted them as rank score point 「順位点」 altogether. It's the mixture of uma +30/+10/-10/-30 and oka +20.
  2. ↑ Sponsor name is planned to change to BS10 since January 2025.

External links

Competition rules
M.League channel
M.League in Japanese Wikipedia
Blog covering game highlights
Seasons
2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Teams
M.Tournament
Retrieved from "https://riichi.wiki/index.php?title=M.League&oldid=26206"