[tjalorak]

Originally Posted by XGeneral2000

Well...yes and no. Shiraitodai was sort of hyped to be an unstoppable mahjong powerhouse, having won the last two inter-high tournaments. tjalorak raises a good point about "champions" in any competitive sport - they are always expected to perform to their standards.

I was thinking about whether to say something like:

Expected: Olympique Lyonnais women's team (2x treble winners - Coupe de France, division 1 feminine, and UEFA Women's Champions League Champion)
Got: PSG women's team losing to St. Etienne in the Coupe de France semis

True, even the best players make mistakes. But Shiraitodai's underwhelming second place finish was not just one member having an off day, it was seemingly everyone but Teru, who was the only player that actually saw a net point gain during her match (well, Takami's match arguably went according to plan). And it's not just that Shiraitodai lost, but it's the manner in which they lost. Again, aside from Teru (and arguably Takami), all of their players were soundly defeated, their abilities firmly countered. They were not beaten due to luck, or because the other school used clever tactics and plans - they were simply outplayed by seemingly better players. Considering their legacy, it's not that surprising people were disappointed.

I will say: I seriously expected better basic mahjong play from Shiraitodai in general as opposed to complete ability dependance from the three newcomers. That seems like a rather glaring weakness... and one that I'm surprised their coach or officers didn't train out of them. Even Yuuki's improved somewhat in backfilling in her basic skills from prefecturals to now.

People like Saki, Koromo, or Teru -- I think they'd be 'ace' quality even without their abilities. The abilities let them achieve 'miracles,' but they're pretty competent even without them.

Of course, the hype surrounding Shiraitodai is also a little shaky. Technically, Teru is the reason Shiraitodai is famous at all, so it's actually not strange that she would be the only one who dominated her match. As some people have pointed out, I think Shiraitodai was actually playing up to par, and that had this been the 69th or 70th InterHigh tournament, that level of playing would have been enough. Rather, I suspect that the opposition was just a lot stiffer than they're used to, and their over-reliance on Teru is now showing. This realization is most likely not lost on Shiraitodai themselves, so we shouldn't write them off just yet. I think we'll be in for a surprise in the finals.

I should hope so!

Actually, speaking of the competition being stiffer than normal, that probably goes back to a combination of the sudden change in competition rules that seems to be trying to draw out 'special' (abilities) or 'extraordinarily lucky' (monsters) players and several darkhorse schools out of nowhere (Achiga, Kiyosumi, Usuzan, Shindouji). Huh. And Shiraitodai is probably weaker than in previous years... Certainly, their new players have weaknesses that have been easily identified by certain teams and easily targeted.

I suspect less hanchans means that the badass normals, unless they're extremely flexible and intelligent and quick in their reactions (i.e. Satoha), get less time to react to new, crazy abilities going off at their table or new targeting attempts and thus get overwhelmed. That's why we're seeing reactions and counter-reactions of teams between tournament rounds as opposed to between hanchans in a given match. I also suspect that players like Ryuuka or Nodoka who are consistent in their technical skill would, on average, gain respectable amount of points in longer matches, esp. since it does seem like some ability users have inconsistent skills or are stubborn to the point of stupidity.

If anything, I was disappointed that Ryuuka wasn't as flashy as I hoped she would be. The Toki thing was honestly kind of lame, and didn't showcase her own abilities at all. I wanted to see the skills that earned her the highest average point gain in her region, not "Toki, 7-day Trial Edition."

Yeah... Give her this (OP) power!

Ryuuka: Dragon Lord

Passive: Danger Sense. Can feel when a tile that can be discarded is 'dangerous' (i.e. someone can ron on it).

Passive: Dragon Flight. Flies above attempts to hinder or control her. Abilities that others try to impose on her do not affect player.
-- Example: Prevents no tenpai hell, Awai's delay, Shizu's mountain road, Sae's power block, *maybe* Teru's demon mirror. Does not prevent: Momoko's discard fading, Saki's kans, Awai's double riichi, Kuro's dora drawing, Toki's future sight, Himeko's key, etc. Note: only works for player in question.

Basic Active: Dragon Commander. Tends to draw dragon tiles (white, red, green).
-- Tends to draw one type faster depending on seat: white - west, red - south, green - north. East -- all equally. (Corresponding with Four Legendary Creatures and their colors.)
Style: Tends to go for yakuhai, shousangen, daisangen. Can also add on pon-type and honor-type yaku.

[Monster Active: Tenryu. Daisangen tenhou / chihou.
-- Preconditions: Win on two hands in one hanchan - one on a sanbaiman and the other on the 2nd draw (not sure whether to limit even more and declare must be a double riichi ippatsu).
-- Next turn will be a daisangen tenhou / chihou (depending on seat obviously).
-- Resets after Tenryu goes off or the hanchan ends.]

In other news, despite Yuuki being my least favorite Kiyosumi (biased, I just don't really like Kugimiya Rie and the archetype she plays), I can't help but feel bad for her. Since she's always used as a sort of sacrificial damage-control player against everyone else's aces, she never really gets a chance in the spotlight.

Seems like most teams are throwing sacrificial lambs into the vanguard round. Rinkai, of course, doesn't have a choice on where to place their Ace given team make up. Still, poor Yuuki.

And since the finals is going to pit her against none other than final-boss Teru, I don't know she'll have a chance to shine in that round either. I really hope Mako get a good feature in this next match, because she suffers from the same problem (I mean, her last match was pretty much off-screened even though she had the largest point gain from Kiyosumi that round). I think her photographic memory is one of the more creative abilities in the Sakiverse, and I'd like to see it in action more often.

I really like the name given for it by Hisa: SPINDLE TERRITORY. It just sounds awesome. It's too bad that given her lack of screentime, it's hard to project her current level and possible future level. Although, given her ability and her intelligence, wouldn't she a hard opponent to face the second time around? I hope we can see if it's easier for her to face Himematsu's 2nd player now that she's gotten Himematsu's style into her 'river.'