2018 M.League season
2018 M.League season is the inaugural season to the M.League. The season began on October 1, 2018, and the last regular season session was on February 12, 2019. The final series began on March 2, 2019 and the championship was decided on March 31, 2019. Akasaka Drivens became the first champion.
 M.League logo | |
| Host | M.League |
|---|---|
| Type | Professional league |
| Team count | 7 teams |
| Finalists | |
| Champion | Akasaka Drivens |
| Runner up | EX Furinkazan |
| Third | Shibuya Abemas |
| Fourth | Konami Mahjong Fight Club |
Teams
| Team name | Company sponsor | Draft results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | ||
| Akasaka Drivens | Hakuhodo DY media partners | Ken Sonoda (Saikouisen) | Jun Murakami (Saikouisen) | Taro Suzuki (Nihon Pro Mahjong Kyokai) |
| EX Furinkazan | TV Asahi | Aki Nikaido (JPML) | Kazunori Takizawa (JPML) | Kenji Katsumata (JPML) |
| Konami Mahjong Fight Club | KONAMI | Hisato Sasaki (JPML) | Mari Takamiya (JPML) | Yudai Maehara (JPML) |
| Shibuya Abemas | CyberAgent | Takaharu Ooi (RMU) | Sho Shiratori (JPML) | Yoshihiro Matsumoto (Nihon Pro Mahjong Kyokai) |
| SegaSammy Phoenix | SegaSammy | Yuumi Uotani (JPML) | Seiichi Kondo (Saikouisen) | Sayaka Kayamori (Saikouisen) |
| TEAM RAIDEN | Dentsu | Masato Hagiwara (JPML) | Naoki Setokuma (JPML) | Saki Kurosawa (JPML) |
| U-NEXT Pirates | U-Next | Go Kobayashi (Mahjong Union) | Koushin Asakura (Saikouisen) | Nobuhiro Ishibashi (Saikouisen) |
Draft
The inaugural draft was held on August 7 at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa in Tokyo. All players were drafted as normal in round order. Taro Suzuki was drafted by three teams: Akasaka Drivens, Shibuya ABEMAS, and U-NEXT Pirates. By lottery, Akasaka Drivens gained the right to draft Taro Suzuki. Shibuya ABEMAS and U-NEXT Pirates then drafted Yoshihiro Matsumoto and Nobuhiro Ishibashi respectively.
Format
The regular season consists of 140 hanchan, with 80 hanchan played for each team. With seven teams, the top 4 of the regular season continue into a 24 hanchan final.
Results
Regular season
| # | Team | Points | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EX Furinkazan | 281.7 | - |
| 2 | Shibuya Abemas | 184.6 | 97.1 |
| 3 | Konami Mahjong Fight Club | 39.2 | 145.4 |
| 4 | Akasaka Drivens | -8.7 | 47.9 |
| 5 | U-NEXT Pirates | -99.2 | 90.5 |
| 6 | SegaSammy Phoenix | -170.1 | 70.9 |
| 7 | TEAM RAIDEN | -227.5 | 57.4 |
Final
| # | Team | Start | Net | Final | Difference | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akasaka Drivens | -4.3 | 598.8 | 594.5 | - | ¥50 million |
| 2 | EX Furinkazan | 140.9 | -57.9 | 83.0 | 511.5 | ¥20 million |
| 3 | Shibuya Abemas | 92.3 | -239.3 | -147.0 | 230.0 | ¥10 million |
| 4 | Konami Mahjong Fight Club | 19.6 | -301.6 | -282.0 | 135.0 |
Individual awards
Individual score
- Takaharu Ooi
- Kazunori Takizawa
- Hisato Sasaki
Average winning score
- Sayaka Kayamori
- Taro Suzuki
- Kazunori Takizawa
Fourth place avoidance
- Kazunori Takizawa
- Aki Nikaido
- Takaharu Ooi
Yakuman
External links
- 2018 M.League season in Japanese Wikipedia