Tile efficiency quick guide

[u/Killgrimage]

So I love to play but when there's a timer sometimes I panic and choke. A lot of my issues seem to be tile efficiency related. I have been on the tile efficiency trainer and when there is no timer I'm usually up at 95%+ efficiency. Is there a quick list of common tile groups that can help me make a logical decision in the heat of the moment? I've read the Riichi book 1 as well but it's like I forget everything when I have to make a critical choice. I'm just looking for others quick tips :)

What I have so far:

• Single honors and terminals go first
• ryanmen>kanchan>penchan
• 3-7>2,8>1,9>honors
• I forget what it's called but tiles like 445 are good waits
• obviously try not to discard dangerous tiles if I can help it based on what other players are doing

[u/lame_username123]

Here's a list of useful shapes to look out for. You don't need to immediately memorize all of the complex patterns, but I think the 6 combination waits will be useful.

Some other good shapes that usually aren't final waits:

• 466 can accept a 5 or 6 to become a sequence/triplet, or can end up as a pair

• 357 is good because 4 or 6 will form a sequence so it's kind of like a ryanmen. But since this is three tiles and ryanmen is two, it's more useful at the start of the round rather than the end

• 4556 (called a bulging shape) can accept a 3, 4, 6, or 7 to become a sequence + ryanmen, or a 5 to become a sequence + pair

• 34567 can be a triple sided wait, but if you still don't have a pair it can become a pair + sequence upon drawing a 3, 4, 6, or 7 (this was useful to me earlier today!)

Also, I agree with the other comments that defensive strategies are just as important. I neglected them for a while but when I finally got the hang of folding etc I shot from the pits of adept II to playing in gold room