We had a chance to sit down with Moriyama to do a full four-player hand strategy session – all the hands, all the discards, all the reasons why. Check it out! Huge, huge thanks to Garthe Nelson for the real-time translation, and to Amauri Sanches for recording the talk for transcription purposes.
East 1, Dora Indicator: 
Starting Hands:
East: 
South: 
West: 
North: 
East: Draw:
Because the dora is , what if the comes? In that situation you would aim for tanyao, but because you are dealer, you want to keep your deal. The is a great shape, it is a ready made head, so, because dealer, call ? That’s kinda cheap, buy you want to continue as dealer, so white only is still a valid way of thinking. So if you draw the , start thinking about honitsu. If you draw the 3s, then tanyao pinfu etc, get rid of the honor tiles. So you are realizing hon itsu is probably difficult. Dumping the is okay. However, if something comes later, you can start thinking about honitsu again. Cut .
South: Draw:
This is an easy one – dump the s. You aren’t worried about your head, you have a bunch of options. isn’t necessarily a pair, it’ll probably end up like 
. Cut .
West: Draw:
Not the – what if another one is drawn? All sorts of stuffs get you to mentanpin, don’t dump it. Probably a standard pinfu, so ryanmen making is good, so dump honors. keeps pinfu, so dump the yaku honors. is less dangerous later, so given the pick, dump a dragon. East discard as an honor says “they are not looking for honors”. Lets say East discarded the first then – then it might be an issue. Why keep honors over sou? So, which of or ? dump the because less chance of as kan/ura dora indicator, so less chance of later dora indicator of to make dora, so is less dangerous later. Cut .
North: Draw:
There are three possible hand parts in the man, so honitsu, so that is good, so don’t cut honors. The is a head. You have a head and three groups, so there’s the choice. The is the least useful of the three, and is dora, and there is maybe a sanshoku, so out. For the rest, including the honors, what if you draw a pair? Think of it as the one tile you don’t need, even if you draw a pair of it. Cut .
East: Draw:
No need for this N. Cut .
South: Draw:
Other N comes out here. Cut .
West: Draw:
Two dora, nice. Because 2 dora, expand your hand options. Chi and pon are now valid to get tanyao. However, if you pull a yaku honor you can call, so that means you can call that for your yaku. Don’t only think about tanyao, so out with the pinfu . Cut .
North: Draw:
That pulls in itsu maybe, and even more honitsu. The and are still sanshoku maybe, so get rid of something that keeps those alive as much as possible, the or , and the is worth more to people, so out. Cut .
East: Draw:
There is not a good shape so making an expensive hand is hard, so now the idea is to keep the deal as much as possible, so tile efficiency go go. out. Cut .
South: Draw:
Tanyao, pinfu, all possible, including sanshoku. You might get that , so the 8p pair is still needed. Both s are not needed for pinfu or sanshoku, and there is only the that makes it better, so out. Cut .
West: Draw:
out because is safer later. Cut .
North: Draw:
not needed. Cut .
East: Draw:
Shape is pretty bad. Expensive hand not possible. So, go for as callable as possible. Cut .
South: Draw: 
That lets you use the dora either way, and there is no sanshoku possibility at the bottom end of the man, so out. Cut .
West: Draw:
G not needed. Cut .
North: Draw:
not needed. Cut .
East: Draw:
Tile efficiency. Cut .
South: Draw:
not needed. Cut .
East: Pon:
Call the pon, then this is a bit difficult. The penchan wait is the worst, the goes out. out first because it is more dangerous (can be used in more hands if someone becomes ready). Cut .
South: Draw:
That 7p pair isn’t helping you keep that dora or that sanshoku, so it isn’t needed. Cut .
West: Draw:
Everything but the can turn into ryanmen, so gone. Leave open as many possibilities as you can. “what if I draw another ” desn’t feel bad, but if you dump that and you draw the , you will feel bad. Don’t feel bad. Cut .
North: Draw: 
not needed. Cut .
East: 
Draw:
Lose the rest of the . Cut .
South: Draw:
The 468 is good and the 44m pair isn’t helping. Cut .
West: Draw:
Whiffing the again isn’t terrible, because of your other yaku. Again, it doesn’t feel bad to miss this. Cut .
North: Draw: 
You aren’t thinking about hon itsu anymore, and dealer has called. So giving them the is possibly two more yaku. Don’t help the dealer. Also, the doesn’t directly help you, so out. Cut .
East: Draw:
Ii shan ten. Cut .
South: Draw:
That’s a missed chance there, and you are falling behind in speed, so just keep with what you got going. That pon from dealer means they are getting close, so be careful with your discards. Cut .
West: Draw:
In this case, out is fine because this hand is going well and you are willing to fight for it. You can chance a dealer pon to keep this hand going. Cut .
North: Draw:
More of the same. Cut .
East: Draw:
Tenpai. Now, winning a 1 han hand sucks, but as dealer you get to be dealer again, so that’s worth. Get in there. Cut , waits:
South: Draw:
No help here. Cut .
West: Draw:
No help. Cut .
North: Draw:
Now is safe.Cut .
East: Draw: 
2s is safer and less callable, still tenpai. Cut , tenpai, waits: .
South: Draw:
Not needed. Cut .
West: Draw:
Lower chance on getting the 3p than the 7p for pinfu possibility, so out. Cut .
North: Draw:
Sticks to dora, got to cut something, is safe. Cut .
East: Draw:
Stay in tenpai. Cut .
South: Draw:
Not needed. Cut .
West: Draw:
Not needed. Cut .
North: Draw:
Maybe a 7 pairs chance, and the is safe, so you can go for that. The dealer discard makes the - super dangerous, so out. Cut .
East: Draw: 
Stay in tenpai. Cut .
South: Draw:
Not needed. Cut .
West: Draw:
Ii shanten. The safe, sanshoku still there, tanyao call, out. Cut .
North: Draw:
Still 7 pairs, and you could still get a to connect the so dump the . Cut .
East: Draw:
Stay in tenpai. Cut .
South: Draw:
Not needed. Cut .
West: Draw:
The is dangerous here, The dealer has an aida yon ken ( / , makes / dangerous), and you want to get that callable hand together. The is almost a wall so is safer and less expensive if it deals in (which it does, aww). Cut (which deals in for 1500 points). While this is a deal-in, that’s okay. That’s a was a worthy stand to make, fight on.
If you are interested in more strategy session material, please check out our earlier Moriyama “what would you cut” discussion here!