#1HENKAFAN

Sumodb has been down for an unusually long time.

I can't promise I'll be able to play a daily game like this in the long-term and I'm probably not going to be all that good since I have no real daily game experience, but for this basho I think I should be able to help get the game off the ground. Adding all sekitori will definitely make the game a lot easier since if it's limited to makuuchi rikishi you don't get to control the strength of your balloon as much. I'm not sure if it would necessarily make teams more diverse inherently though since it increases the number of strong picks that many players would want to put on their team. Like @Jejima said for example with all sekitori there is no reason to not choose Hokuseiho since everyone knows he is not going to be there.

This game sounds cool but who exactly is going to run it if Jejima can't?

I hate journalists just as much as anyone else does but I don't see how this article is any different to how most sumo fans react when they hear Wakatakakage and Wakamotoharu for the first time. And the Japanese commentators laugh at their names sometimes too, you know, live on air. It's not just a western thing.

Have confidence. I daresay Taikoubana could win the maezumo yusho with that pick!

Last basho when I got Kotoshoho I thought I might get my first 10+win basho. Still the best draw i got in a while though. I was close!

Might be a bit of a nonsequitur but back when I was first getting into sumo there was a general perception outside of these banzuke guessing threads that the east and west ranks were functionally equal and the distinction between them only existed because you could not put 2 people in the same place. Even on first hearing that it didn't make sense to me and I quickly found out how plainly wrong that was when I first tried my hand at GTB. It made me wonder why many people believed that in the first place. Thankfully now that sumo and GTB are both more popular I don't see people claiming such anymore!

Sumo Spiffy had Meisei ahead of Oho in his guess but he's the only other one I've seen do that so far. It's not that crazy but it seems Oho is the standard choice there. (Of course @Hoshotakamoto got his answer one second before mine so now it looks like I'm not reading)

After the previous conversations I am confronting yet again that changing things from my initial draft usually hurts me more than it helps. Too bad. I would rather have seen Tokihayate or Tohakuryu promoted anyways so let's say I hedged my bets or something by choosing Endo.

I had been considering Tohakuryu at M17 but the combination of 5 exchanges already being on my banzuke, Tohakuryu being J1w in raw numbers, and Endo being a fan favorite in Japan made me think too many factors were in Endo's favor to bring up Tohakuryu (or Tokihayate) despite the edge case.

Normally I'm not eager to disagree with the GOAT banzuke guesser but according to the kaiju Takerufuji got his promotion

When I checked the history for 2 win komusubi I saw the second to last time it happened in 2014 the komusubi Takakaze was placed at 9w behind Tamawashi who got 8 wins at M10w, half a rank lower than he was this time with the same record. If they put Tamawashi ahead back then I figured these days with a lower amount of sanyaku bias Takayasu should at least fall to M8E and then whether he's put below Onosho or Hokutofuji is more debatable.

GTB deadline has passed. Time to drop the script Y1e Terunofuji 13-2 Y ─ Y1 Y2 O1e Kirishima 11-4 ─ O1 O1w Hoshoryu 10-4-1 ─ O2w Takakeisho 2-2-11 +0.5 O2 S1e Kotonowaka 13-2 DG  ↑  O3 S1w Daieisho 9-6 +0.5 S1 M1e Wakamotoharu 10-5 S  ↑  S2 S3 M2w Abi 8-7  ↑  K1 M7w Asanoyama 9-3-3  ↑  K2 K3 K1w Ura 6-9  ↓  M1 M5w Nishikigi 8-7 +4 M1w Atamifuji 6-9 -0.5 M2 M11w Oho 10-5 +9 M9w Meisei 9-6 +6.5 M3 M12e Takanosho 10-5 +8.5 M4e Tobizaru 7-8 ─ M4 M2e Midorifuji 5-10 -2.5 M8w Hiradoumi 8-7 +3.5 M5 M11e Tsurugisho 9-6 +5.5 M6e Kinbozan 7-8 ─ M6 M3e Gonoyama 5-10 -3.5 M15w Onosato 11-4 K +8.5 M7 M10e Tamawashi 8-7 +2.5 M14w Onosho 10-5 +6.5 M8 K1e Takayasu 2-4-9  ↓  M3w Hokutofuji 4-5-6 -5.5 M9 M14e Kotoshoho 9-6 +4.5 M4w Shodai 4-11 -5.5 M10 M9e Mitakeumi 6-9 -1.5 M7e Ichiyamamoto 5-10 -4 M11 M10w Sadanoumi 6-9 -1 M6w Shonannoumi 4-11 -5.5 M12 M17e Shimazuumi 9-6 +4.5 M5e Ryuden 3-12 -8 M13 M13e Churanoumi 7-8 -0.5 J2e Nishikifuji 10-5  ↑  M14 J3w Kitanowaka 10-5  ↑  M12w Myogiryu 5-10 -2.5 M15 J10e Takerufuji 13-2 Y  ↑  J3e Roga 9-6  ↑  M16 J1e Daiamami 8-7  ↑  M13w Endo 5-10 -3.5 M17

Present!

65 points for me this time. Asanoyama's demotion being as far as possible and Kotonowaka over Daieisho both surprised me a lot. I also got Takarafuji and Onosato swapped but overall I don't feel too bad and I'm hoping being so similar to Asashosakari's list will carry me to a strong score. It's looking like the joi bias for rikishi not in the sanyaku is less generous with the current banzuke committee, that might be something I have to keep in mind for the future.