Today, let's discuss what are derived tiles? And what role do they play?
Compared to other connection mahjong tiles, derived tiles are like standalone cards; so, why not just discard them first? Let's explain their functions, and explore the situations in which they can improve certain hands.
First, when playing Mahjong, it’s really important to understand the basic concepts of missing pairs and missing tiles. This understanding will help you make the right moves.
In Mahjong, your tiles are always doing four main things:
Let’s analyze the tiles in your hand. You already have a complete set
with
, another complete set with
, and a set with
. You also have a double-sided tile with
, which gives you three complete sets and one double-sided tile, but you’re
missing a pair.
Now that we know you’re missing a pair, the first thing we need to do is construct a pair. Let’s remember the previous tips in Tips for Edge Pairs, Middle Pairs and Four Consecutive Tile patterns:
- If you have a pair, break the edge pair from the set.
- If you don’t have any pair, break the middle pairs from the set.
In here, you shouldn’t simply treat
as a pair. Instead treat
as a Set should be your top priority.
Base of "If you have a pair, break the edge pair from the set". The value of this edge tiles is constructing a pair.
If you draw
or
, you can construct a pair and complete a set. If you discard
, you’re only losing two tiles of
. If you keep it, you need to draw another two
to make a pair, it's difficult, right? And if you draw
,
,
or
, both these tiles can’t make this hands with any pairs. You really need
to draw two
to make it work.
So, by discarding
, you’re only wasting two tiles.
Now, you might ask, why not discard
? Let’s think about what the
is. The
is a derivative tile of the
and
.
Here let me introduce another Mahjong Tips:
If you’re missing a pair or a set, keep the derivative tiles.
The biggest value of derivative tiles is that they can also help you
construct a pair. Let's see, if you draw
, you can make a pair with it, right? And then you can discard
. At this point, you’re waiting for
.
If you draw
, you can construct a sequence with
. In this case, you can discard
,
or
.
In this case, that's why you should discard the
.
Happy New Year! Happy winning!
You can find more Mahjong strategies here.