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Originally Posted by ahelo
I'm pretty sure they knew Nodoka would be 4th since Achiga did so much research on Kiyosumi to the point that they battled all their opponents in the finals of the regional tournament. I'd say that Achiga prioritized having the perfect line-up over who battles Nodoka. It is pretty lol though that it's gonna be Arata who faces Nodoka even though she's the one who knows her the least.
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I don't think that Achiga can possibly know that Nodoka was playing the vice-captain position. Remember the team line-up was submitted before the prefecture tournament starts. Assuming that all prefecture tournaments starts roughly on the same day no team can know for sure what their rival team's line-up can be.
In this, I agree with Marina2's theory about Achiga guessing where Nodoka was going to be positioned and putting members that know of her in that position. Before fighting Ryuumobuchi, Achiga was under the impression that Nodoka is Kiyosumi's ace.
Remember, Shizuno asked Koromo who was curbstomping her at that time, "Did Nodoka beat you?" That simple statement reveals that Achiga at that time believes Nodoka was the strongest in Kiyosumi.
Besides that, another evidence was Koromo's answer that it wasn't Nonoka who beat her, but Kiyosumi's rinshan user and Achiga's subsequent confusion. Achiga has absolutely no clue what 'rinshan user' meant implying they haven't watched any of Kiyosumi's team matches yet.
If we look at Achiga's lineup closely, we notice that those who knew Nodoka personally was placed in a position where an ace player is usually placed.
Vanguard = Kuro
The vanguard position is the current fad of where an ace player was placed under the assumption that an ace would get lots of points and make it easier for the team. Out of the 3 that knew Nodoka, Kuro has the highest point getting points, when her power wasn't being blocked that is.
Lieutenant = Ako
The traditional position of the ace wherein an ace player can bolster a flagging team performance or help defend or further down the lead. Ako has the fastest and well skillful style of the Achiga so she should be a fit here since out of the 3 that knew Nodoka, she has the most situational/strategic awareness. Kuro didn't even notice that her win was arranged by Toki and Kirame and for some reason I have a feeling that Shizuno relies on GUTS more than strategy.
Captain = Shizuno
The captain position is the anchor position. It is a good place to put the ace since it ensures that no matter how far down you are someone is always around to do the comeback and if you're ahead, you can have the peace of mind that someone will defend those points in the end. Its also the most stressful position barring the vanguard. Shizuno, out of the 3 that knows Nodoka, is the better choice since her personality of being a "determined idiot (like most shounen heroes)" at least makes her immune to despair and stress.
As we can see, Achiga's line-up makes perfect sense under the the assumption that Nodoka is Kiyosumi's ace and Achiga want to meet up with her on mahjong table.
Unfortunately for Achiga, Nodoka isn't Kiyosumi's ace and she plays the vice-captain position. As the recent chapter shows vice-captain was a position rarely placed by the ace.
In fact, Shindouji and just one other school in the whole tournament put their ace in the vice-captain position. And in Shindouji's case it was more to take advantage of Marui and Himiko's ability.
So yeah.