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
- U-Next Pirates
- 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.
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:
- Yamada Doppo (Saikouisen, 3rd Tenhoui)
- Ishikawa Ryo (JPML, 4th Tenhoui, Saikyousen Finalist)
- Saito Go (JPML, 13th Tenhoui)
- Ibaraki Keita (NPM, 19th Tenhoui)
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:
- Shibukawa Nanba (NPM, 20th NPM Mahjong King)
- Daigo Hiroshi (Saikouisen, 45th Saikoui)
- Suzuki Yu (Saikouisen, 46th Saikoui, Tenhou 9-Dan)
- Kihara Koichi (NPM, 14th NPM Mahjong King)
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:
JPML: Sasaki Hisato(Already on Konami Mahjong Fight Club)- Saikouisen: Suzuki Yu
- NPM: Shibukawa Nanba
Mu: Kobayashi Go(Already on U-Next Pirates)- RMU: Kouno Takashi
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:
- Nakabayashi Kei (NPM, A1-League)
- Daigo Hiroshi (Saikouisen, 45th Saikoui)
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!
M-League Watch 