[Bladezer]

Originally Posted by cedec0

Other reasons to believe that Shizuno will turn out to be a monster:

1) It seems obvious that Achiga is headed to the finals, which means the stronger Shizuno is, the more interesting it makes the final. So why the hell wouldn't they make her a monster? (Also, if she isn't a saki-level, then all those people complaining about Achiga not derserving to go to final will be right (I will be one of them. I only support Achiga on the assumption that Shizuno is a monster)).

2) To keep things interesting in the finals, Saki must face at least one opponent stronger than Kuromo. I don't consider Himeko, Awai, or Ryuuka to be stronger than Kuromo, so it can't be them. The only one with the potential (on side A) to become a monster that surpasses Kuromo is Shizuno.

Well to make the finals interesting Shizu must be great player, otherwise it will be a one sided massacre by Saki again.
I see Awai, Himeko and Ryuuka being to actually give Koromo a good match. Well, Himeko can only give Koromo a good match, depending on how well Touka would do against Mairu, and its perfectly within reason to awaken Touka's cold state, which would mean Himeko wouldn't really be able to give Koromo a challenge. Awai seems to be able to actually able to find Koromo's table control, after all her double riichi would be a real throne in Korom's side, who mainly aims for haitei rouyoue, and Awai usually wins at the corner of a wall.

Originally Posted by cedec0

On personal level, I find Saki to be arrogant and overpowered a lot of the time. I want someone to, if not defeat her, then at least put her through hell in the finals. Awai is not capable of doing this (look how much she is struggling in the semi-finals). Someone who can wipe the floor with Awai, however, might just be the right power level for some serious Saki crushing, which is what I am hoping for from Shizuno.

I really feel this needs to be pointed out: Awai had to get serious in the semi-finals, so will Saki, if Kiyosumi are going through Saki cannot rely on +/-0, she must play to win, if she doesn't Rinkai's captain will make it a hard time for her, as well as Kyouko knowing ways in how to counter Saki. With Awai, Shizu, Ryuuka and Himeko are doing everything they can to make second. They all have something on the line here: Ryuuka, trying not to make Toki's sacrifice pointless, Himeko seems to be trying to prove her bound with Mairu is stronger then Awai, and Shizuno has promised to fight Nodoka in the final, as well as proving to Harue that a much of no ones can fight with monsters and champions. Meaning all 3 where going to have pushed Awai into a corner, and I feel this will happen to Saki in Kiyosumi's final, if Rinkai's captain is a flow control master, Saki will have her control of the table challenged, it seems that Kyouko knows ways how to counter Saki's +/-0 style, meaning Saki must take an actual offensive, and with the warning a pro gave Uzusan, Saki will most likely have to play seriously just like Awai.
So what I'm saying is Awai is still a monster, its just case of, she's facing 3 people who are not scared of monster, like Kana, who got really scared of Koromo.

Originally Posted by cedec0

You seem to be arguing that, because Shiraitodai is powerful and would do well in the finals, that is why they will win the semi-finals. In the real world, that would be a good arguement, but not necessarily in the Saki universe.

I might be wrong, but the key criteria to determine which team (other than Achiga) will advance is not their strength, but "which team would make the finals more interesting". In other words, the team which would make the finals the most fun to watch stands the best chance of advancing. Boring characters and abilities lower a team chances and popular characters with interesting abilities raise a team's chances. Using this metric, Shiraitodai's chances are poor, especially compared to Senriyama.

If this were true, Miyamori or Eisui would have gone through with Kiyosumi not Himemastu.
Why? Because Miyamori had Sae, who's able to seal hands, and if she's able to seal Nodoka's han would make for a good match were strain is put on Nodoka, or Esiui with Hatsumi who would force Nodoka into having to accept the occult aspect of the game. Esiui with Jindai and Kasumi would make things even more annoying for Yuuki and Saki, because Jindai would've had a stronger goddeses when fighting Yuuki, and Kasumi knows how to defend well against Saki. And with Toyone who apparently had other abilities we were unable to see.
Not Himemastu, who's only real credit is that their Sergeant got a single win over Mako, remember Hiroe taking on Hisa doesn't count, because of Hisa being nervous at the start of the match.

Originally Posted by cedec0

VANGUARD POSITION

1) Shiraitodai: Miyanaga Teru

No question that Teru is insanely strong, but that is not necessarilly good for her chances. There are two possibilities if Teru makes the final, both of which don't really work:

A) Vanguard battle is carbon copy of what happens in the semi-finals. Three or four chapters of Teru kicking everyone's ass while racking up points. Powerful yes, but BORING AS HELL (especially if you are right about Teru "not using her full power in the semi-finals.").
B) Teru does poorly in vandard battle. Saki's invinsible sister is no longer invincible. (increadibly unlikely)

Do you really want to read another four chapters of everyone desperately trying to stop Teru's rampage? Or do you want to see the all-powerful Teru do poorly (win by less then 30000)?

Teru getting to the finals just doesn't really work.

2) Senriyama: Onjouji Toki

One of the most popular characters with a very fun ability. Seeing her struggle against more powerful opponents would be more fun than watching another Teru massacre.

3) Shindouji: Hanada Kirame

Barely better than a Teru massacre, but still boring. She doesn't add anything to Vanguard battle.

Teru would have to deal with Yuuki in the east round who has the flow of the game on her side at the start of the game, and remember calls don't disrupt Yuuki anymore, also she makes calls now, meaning Toki would have her ippastu ruined and can't make calls to disrupt Yuuki.
Kirame added nothing to the vanguard match? You honestly think that? Without Kirame Toki would have kept getting worse and worse moral, because she would not get the idea to play cooperatively play with the other teams, still Kirame being in the finals would mean squat, because Yuuki probably won't ever play cooperatively ever again after what Mihoko pulled on her.

Originally Posted by cedec0

SERGEANT POSITION

1) Shiraitodai: Hirose Sumire

Hard to see her as being that interesting. With her tell exposed (good chance other schools might pick up on it too), it would be hard to use her arrows. Without her arrows, she is just a good player without a particularly interesting personality. She won't do badly in terms of points, but it won't be that interesting.

2) Senriyama: Nijou Izumi

Hard to tell. If she can avoid being dominated again, she could potential be interesting. Personallity wise more interesting than Hirose, but still blah.

3) Shindouji: Yasukouchi Yoshiko

She is a robot right? No personallity/emotions when playing mahjong. Not interesting, but not really worse than the two other possibilities.

Sumire provides the most annoyance for Mako, who can sense when hands coming together, but Sumire will break them up to wait, to be able to attack a opponent. No I do want to see Izumi gets destroyed 2.0 because she stupidly doesn't take into account fast paced players when doing defense, and Yoshiko developed a style to counter Sumire's, meaning Yoshiko would possibly go make to her big scoring hand style, and we don't see Yoshiko's thoughts during her match, plus she has looks of relieve when Sumire isn't aiming at her, plus she seems pretty nervous when she wins

Originally Posted by cedec0

LIEUTENANT POSITION

1) Shiraitodai: Shibuya Takami

Potentially powerful, but not interesting. A bland character with a borring ability. Sure she could potentially win a lot of points if she is dealer last, but would that make up for her doing nothing the rest of the time?

Verdict: equally boring as another Teru massacre.

2) Senriyama: Eguchi Sera

No special abilities, but one of the more interesting character. Even if she loses points, watching her would be more interesting than Shibuya Takami and her boring ability.

3) Shindouji: Ezaki Hitomi

Do we really want to listen to her again, as she conplains "it is all the government's fault" as she loses points like mad? (the posibility of her doing well is zero (in my opinion))

Sera style would be annoyance to Hisa and only an annoyance. Also I can foresee Hisa not figuring out Takami's ability and extending her dealership, just like Ako did. Plus Hisa hell waits will not help against Takami's harvest time, and Hitomi is just your decent average player, she clearly just had a bad game when she played Ako and Sera.

Originally Posted by cedec0

VICE-CAPTAIN POSITION

1) Shiraitodai: Matano Seiko

least powerful member of Shiraitodai, and not that interesting either. Don't really want to see her get her ass kicked again.

2) Senriyama: Funakubo Hiroko

Awsome character, powerful too. Would be ten times more fun to watch in the finals than Matano Seiko. Would also be really interesting to see how she stacks up against Nodoka.

3) Shindouji: Shirouzu Mairu

Finally, a member of Shindouji that is interesting, powerful, and has a fun ability. More mahjong bondage.

Straight up the most interesting one here is clearly Mairu, do to it being flexible, Seiko and Hiroko's plays styles are to logical for them to really challenge Nodoka, and while Seiko has an ability, it only be annoying for Nodoka if it was case of Seiko getting her tsumo win guaranteed after she got 3 calls.

Originally Posted by cedec0

Judging by "which team would make the finals more interesting", Senriyama wins hands down with only one potentially uninteresting player. Although their chances of winning might be lower than Shiraitodai, watching them would be fun, and that is why I see them as the team most likely to advance after Achiga.

Watching Senriyama play Achiga and Kiyosumi wouldn't be fun in the finals, Toki would not be able to stop Yuuki, or get her to play into her hand, Izumi would just be destroyed by Yuu and Mako, Sera I see playing into Hisa's hell waits a lot because of her always winning with logical large point hands and having Ako stop her from building expansive hands with quick/cheap ones, Hiroko wouldn't really be able to take on Nodoka and Arata, seeing as both their styles are flexible and neither of them seem to have discard habits like Seiko does, and seeing as Teru forgoes foresights, Saki is will most likely be able to stop Ryuuka's foresight of a path to winning hand, while Shizuno would most likely disable it. So no Senriyama would not make an interesting finals in Shiraitodai's place.

Originally Posted by eavein18

pop quiz :

1. Did Shizu won against Koromo?

a) Yes
b) No
c) No but she's awesome enough that Komoro feels the need to warn Saki
d) Ofc not!

2. What did Koromo warn Saki about Shizuno

a) She's a monster
b) She can cancel other people's power
c) She's way stronger then Koromo (despite the fact that she never won against Koromo)
d) Did she? Nah that's just her picking out topic to talk with Saki.

3. Is Saki arrogant?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Despite the fact that she never gloat, never gives out bad expression, never mock someone, Her being Shizuno's opponent in the final makes her arrogant by default
d) She's Shizuno's opponent, that makes her better then Shizuno in any way, so No.

4. Does eavein18 understand why people want Saki to suffer?

a) Yes (Shizuno have to beat her mwahahahaha!!!)
b) No (she has suffer enough already)
c) Yes (she cry even when she win, so she needs to be beaten)
d) Why did you make a quiz about your self stupid?

I'm going to give mostly canon answers for this:
1) No Shizu didn't win against Koromo, but she still did well enough to leave a lasting impression on Koromo.
2)She warned Saki about the potential of Shizu canceling out wins
3)No Saki isn't arrogant, she just needs to start playing at full power.
4)We don't want her to suffer, we want Saki to actually be at full strength and have to work for her wins.

Originally Posted by The Green One

Now Shiritodai not making it to the finals would be an amusing and admittedly interesting twist, it would completely invalidate the Saki episode 26 preview shots of Teru vs Yukki so ultimately Shiratodai not making it would make no sense. We have to face facts, it's going to be Shiratodai regardless of their so called lackluster semi final's performance and what is increasingly looking like a build up to Achiga going as well especially with all the build up as Shizuno being set up as a "rival" to Saki.

Not to mention if Shizuno somehow manages to take first and humble Awai, you'll have supernova-chan out for Shizu's head and to get her in bed, not necessarily in that order.

Agree here, and I'll say this again: Shiraitodai are foreshadowed as the team that will force Kiyosumi to go all out from the start, meaning an actual challenge for them. Yuuki having her east wind round control questioned by Teru, Mako having to be careful how she plays, because Sumire only needs time to shot you down, Hisa hell wait *will* not help againdt Takami's yakuman spam, you want to have a speedy hand to end her dealership before can really do damage to you, Seiko maybe could put pressure on Nodoka with her calls, possibly slowing down her hands, and Awai basically calling kan forces Saki to have to play and stop her from getting the dead wall.

I see Awai being wet for Shizu in the finals, only to realize she also has Teru's sister at the table, meaning Awai's going to cause herself to get a full orgasm while trying to destroy both.

Originally Posted by cedec0

Do you think Awai (who is clearly less impressive than Kuromo) stands any chance against Saki (who completely crushed Kuromo and is even stronger now thanks to training)?

Why does the possibility that Saki might FINALLY face an opponent on her level (Shizuno) bother you so much?

You do realize that if Shizuno isn't a monster, then Awai will be the strongest opponent from Side A and the finals will be another boring one-sided victory for Saki?

You do realise that if Koromo played against Himeko, Ryuuka and Shizuno she would have trouble as like Awai is?
Remember how Koromo also started having trouble after Kana changed her outlook? And how Yumi was able to break away Koromo's control for a while? Well Himeko, Shizu and Ryuuka are all able to do this without a monster helping them. Plus Ryuuka and Himeko have previous experience in the nationals, meaning that have faced dangerous players and wouldn't be able to be have their confidence destroyed like Kana did. Main point: Awai and Koromo are most probably the same in terms of monster strength, and the higher you get in the nationals the more likely you are to run into players who can deal with and stand on equal footing with monsters.

Originally Posted by cedec0

LIEUTENANT POSITION

Atarashi Ako & Eguchi Sera (winners) VS Shibuya Takami

Also, Takimi seems like an opponent designed for Ako:

Atarashi Ako's play style (scoring via quick hands with small point totals) backfires against her somewhat (makes it hard for Ako to resist winning and extending her dealership, thus increasing Takimi's power as a result.)

Except you forget, Hisa hell waits *will* not help against Takami, also Hisa likes to extend her dealership as well.

Originally Posted by cedec0

Since Shiritodai played the role of last boss in Achiga-hen, they are unlikely to be in the finals (they can't be the "last boss" two times). This would also explain why Shiritodai has disapointed so many: the current Shiritodai was never designed to make in to the finals. They were a team designed to be defeated by Achiga. This is also why all the players except for Teru have been so disapointing: their credibily/threat level doesn't need to be maintained for the finals since they won't be there.

Shiraitodai were never Achiga's 'last boss', they were and always will be Kiyosumi's final boss. Also Achiga may have exposed the weaknesses have Shiraitodai to its team, meaning that Teru may not make complete prejudgment calls with her mirror, and her second ability may actually be she doesn't need to use her snowball effect with penalties it causes her of having to go for risky wins, Teru's figured out Sumire has a tell, meaning she will probably have other members not on the team look for it, which could mean Sumire will be able to get rid of it in the next round, and I fully see Sumire and Teru taking Seiko and giving her lesson at better defense.
I wouldn't say Shiraitodai has lost any creditably, they are facing a team trained by a former pro, the 2nd ranked school in the entire country and team that has learned from past mistakes, by placing their aces at the end instead of the start. As Kuro said, the closer you get to the top, the harder things become.

Originally Posted by teja208

First thing first, for ShizuxAwai pair to kick start, Shizu has prove herself worthy for Awai.

To begin Shizu has to stop Awai from lusting over Himeko (this is most essential) by breaking kazoe yakuman key, something even Awai herself couldn't achieve. This imediatelly draws Awai's attention away from Himeko and toward Shizu.

Next, Shizu has to stop RyuukaxToki foresight which is the other thing that can stop Awai's Ron Kan Ura.

Lastly, Shizu has to mock Awai by snatching away first place engraving her name forever in Awai's head.

And there you have it folks, from that moment forth Awai will not be able to stop thinking about Shizu for better or worse.

With this outcome, we not only get Awai insanely lusting over Shizu, but also Shizu ability will be confirmed the strongest in the match.

That be pretty funny if afterwards, we got Awai's was something like this:
Don't worry I'll eat her next time (with all the implications)
And pretty much if Achiga is going to win, Shizu must stop it.

Originally Posted by teja208

Look at it this way.

Ability vs. Ability

Awai kan ura vs. Himeko key: Himeko wins + 1
Awai kan ura vs. Ryuuka foresight: Ryuuka wins + 1
Himeko key vs. Ryuuka foresight: Himeko wins + 1
Shizuno ??? vs. Everyone else on the table: Shizuno wins + 3

Final verdic for strongest ability is:

1st Shizuno 3 pts
2nd Himeko 2 pts
3rd Ryuuka 1 pts
Lst Awai 0 pts.

OMG Awai has the weakest ability on the table.

And yet Awai is still in the lead, despite Ryuuka and Himeko who are effectively cheating. Also something else to point out, no one in the finals will probably have an ability that allows them to cheat.

Originally Posted by azziz

i may be old school,but i cannot imagine a final withouth shiratodai;remember saki original motivation to participate in the natinal:meet her one-chan and "talk to her through majong".
so i believe they have the same plot armor than ashiga with nodoka-in fact,i would say even greater:remember the flash back of saki about the mysterious girl in a weelchair.
only at the final its meaning could be revealed through another falsh-back(this time perhaps from teru).
so let's be realist,it will be kiyosumi,shiratodai,ashiga and for the last place-etheir usuzan or rinkai=that's the only suspense.

Thank you, someone else who realises the only school without plot armour for the finals is the 4th team. Also we've seen Senriyama's and Shindouji's back story, we still have yet to see Shiraitodai's back story.
Something that could happen before the finals is Yuuki finds Teru is Saki's sister, which I would feel would make Yuuki angry for Saki seeing as its possible Teru doesn't acknowledge Saki as her sister, which could actaully help lead into a flashback for Teru.

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

I think the reason why you and perhaps many others find this arrogant is because +/- zero is essentially a handicap. If someone does that, she must be looking down on her opponents, yes? That is a very logical extrapolation. The problem with that and Saki's case is as Tsunade666 has succinctly summed up recently "Saki has a few screws loose in her head."

A careful reading between the line will show you that what Saki thinks and what the reality actually is has a vast difference. In fact regarding the +/-zero, I would be willing to bet that Saki never thought of it as a handicap. I would be even to go further and say that Saki thinks of +/-zero as nothing especial and anyone can do it as long as they work hard on it. And you can't really fault her for thinking that way.

I've never found her +/-0 style arrogant, I just want Saki to play at her best, although I do see Saki's +/-0 as s great defensive play, meaning if Yuuki, Mako, Nodoka and Hisa create a good lead Saki defaulting to that isn't a bad idea, because it could also shut out other teams from winning, after all this is what she need to Miyamori and Eisui.

Originally Posted by cedec0

Perhaps it has been mentioned before, but I just realized that Achiga is going to be a surprising nasty opponent for Saki and her friends:

I think I might have managed it before, remember I might, not sure was probably someone else.

Originally Posted by cedec0

VANGUARD POSITION

Matsumi Kuro hoarding all the dora tiles is likely to hurt Kataoka Yuuki's fast-paced, high-scoring style.

SERGEANT POSITION

Matsumi Yuu's playing style is so unique that Someya Mako is unlikely to have never seen anything like it. This means all her accumulated Mahjong experience will be useless against Yuu.

LIEUTENANT POSITION

Atarashi Ako's style of scoring via quick hands with small point totals makes her the worst possible opponent for Takei Hisa, who goes for bigger hands using "hell waits".

VICE-CAPTAIN POSITION

To someone like Haramura Nodoka who plays logically and expects her opponents to play logically, Sagimori Arata's weird bowling-type style is likely to cause problems. Nadoka will probably play into Arata's hand because she isn't expecting such illogical waits.

CAPTAIN POSITION

Don't have all the details on this except that Koromo warns Saki that Shizuno is going to be a "troublesome opponent".

Kuro's dora magnet doesn't really hurt Yuuki, because she can play well without dora, there only 8 at least, and the aka dora are all fivess while there's also regular fives Yuuki can use if she needs them to form a hand.
Yuu's ability is to attract warm/red tiles, I see this as something Mako can read, but would find challenging because Yuu's red tile magnet is something that cannot be stopped
Hisa has actually been shown to have been stopped by cheap hands in the quarter-finals by 2 people working together, and Ako who doesn't need help with her quick wins would be a challenge for Hisa to overcome.
Arata's style is still a logical one, with the pinzu's waits, Nodoka would be able to guess which tiles Arata is aiming for, its when we bring in the part where Arata mixes in Harue's style that I feel Nodoka would be shocked by, because Harue is someone Nodoka hasn't seen years and doesn't know is now coaching Achiga's mahjong club.
Shizu possible ability to negate wins is something that Saki would find an annoyance

Originally Posted by cedec0

In other words, Achiga is made up of players whose styles make them the worst possible opponents for Kiyosumi. This guarrantees that Achiga will be in the finals: Achiga is the true "last boss" for Kiyosumi, not Shiraitodai.

Everyone in Shiraitodai is a dangerous opponent for Kiyosumi except Seiko for Nodoka.

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

Yuuki just switched her style to one who's more faster but gives cheaper wins. At this rate, Kuro will be the one in trouble against Yuuki if they fight you know...

Yep Kuro is a player who creates large expensive hands, meaning Yuuki playing fast would stop Kuro's dora hands from winning

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

I don't know how this will end. But, the series has name-dropped several times that Mako's favorite yakuman is 'All Green.' And Mako has gotten some experience against weird play styles in the training camp. She did stomp Aislinn. Mako is too unappreciated.

Mako is unappreciated, not helped that her match in the quarter-finals was skipped, hopefully the anime will show her match in the quarter-finals. And Mako is able to deal with weird play and can sense when opponent is about win or bring their hand together.

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

Ako vs. Sera ended with Sera winning so Hisa doing big hands isn't a handicap.

Cheap hands stopped Hisa when she faced Haru andKurumi, but still her high scoring hell waits would most likely make her net gain higher then Ako's

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

Err... probably. But, for good or bad Nodoka is very consistent and she really doesn't care about her opponent's ability.

I don't see Arata causing Nodoka trouble with her play style, Nodoka will take into account someone who just favours pinzou waits as something logical, because Arata just has to have pinzu tiles in her waits for it to conform to her style, meaning Nodoka being able to play logically against Arata and still do well against her.

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

I don't know about all the idle speculation. But, from what I'm seeing Shizu still can't take Saki 1 on 1 and win.

I don't see Shizu doing well against Saki in a 1 on 1 match with Saki, Shizu maybe able to stop abilities, we just have to have Saki call kan and Saji will have effectively won.

Originally Posted by morli

Yeah. I'm totally agree for a strong Shizu or at least she has a decent supernatural ability, although so far Shizu performance can only be called "normal" at best.

Well Shizu seems to be case of only dangerous to ability users, meaning normal players can do fine against her, but ones with abilities have trouble against. You know it'd be kinda funny if the reason Yuu knows how to change her style of winning to different hands is because of Shizu's negating effect.

Originally Posted by morli

Let's assume Shizu has a supernatural ability, what is her ability?

The Fact:
1) Each character in Saki universe have different ability
2) She get ron'ned twice so far (in quarterfinal and 1st round captain match)
3) She never get baiman or more
4) Her win come from ron, not tsumo
5) She win on all last round
6) Awai doesn't win though she activate her ability

Now what do we speculate about her ability so far:
1) She has "imagine breaker", negating other supernatural ability
2) She has a good tenpai sense, never lost point much
3) She activate her ability if she get certain dice number
4) She get used to other playing style, then defeat them on the last round

I will bet at least one of the point above is Shizu supernatural ability

I say pretty much everyone in Saki is able to read a hand, just read it, not something special like how Koromo can sense a hands point value or how Mako can sense when someone is about to win.
All the things are the possible things for Shiuz's ability, or it could even be all of them.

Originally Posted by morli

Personally, it will be great if her ability based around yaku. But all the unique yaku already claimed and so far character in Saki doesn't share same ability. (With Saki rinshan kaiho, Koromo haitei, Toki ippatsu and Awai double riichi). The remain yaku that most fit with Shizu's mountain image so far is chiihou (blessing of the earth) in my opinion

Well if Shizu can get chiihou (blessing of Earth), Awai should be able to get blessing of heaven, with her naming being alluded to space and everything.

Originally Posted by fukarming

To make Shiratoudai more competitive, maybe they will "create" an "accident" and send Seiko to the hospital, so Shiratoudai can use a sixth member (I think Ryumonbuuchi stated briefly that if they can't find Koromo the maid is gonna be the substitute and Touka had registered the maid as the 6th person) and that sixth person, with a bizarre style, curbstorm Nodoka (Nodoka is the only one other than Saki in Kiyosumi team that hasn't been curbstormed). So Saki start with less than 10k point and we will see how she struggle to win in back.

What? No. That's mean even for Teru, and Teru is friends with her team members, seems the whole inner workings of Shiraitodai's teams are made up of friends, not random combinations and once formed the team chooses their theme, whether it be Defense, Offensive or something else.
I see Rinkai, or Uzusan being the ones to stop give Nodoka a hard time, it seems Megan knows how to read the flow of a game, so I see her possibly taking Nodoka out, by having Nodoka ignore the occult aspect of the game. Or my personal theory of Arata is the won to cause Nodoka trouble may making her be reminded about the children's mahjong club and her feel like she's playing Harue again.

Also something else, so will the Tokyo playing hall be able to survive through the finals? What we've Saki having caused an earthquake and Awai having made a giant thunderstorm happen when they got serious, lets hope no body else causes nature to be affected when they play in the finals, otherwise we won't be getting a winner, we'll have to deal with a disaster and the captains needing be rescued from the destroyed playing hall.
Unless in some weird twisted way Shizu is able to come the supernova and god before they destroy the hall.
Yeah which would mean the most hyperactive captain is the one who comes nature