Winds & Dragons Section
A section on the NMJL card featuring hands built primarily around wind tiles (North, East, South, West) and dragon tiles (Red, Green, White), the honor tiles of American Mahjong.
What Are Winds & Dragons Hands?
The Winds & Dragons section on the NMJL card contains hands built primarily from Wind tiles (North, East, South, West) and Dragon tiles (Red, Green, White/Soap). These are the honor tiles of American Mahjong, tiles that do not belong to any numbered suit.
This section is unique because honor tiles behave differently from suited tiles in several ways. There are only four copies of each Wind tile and four copies of each Dragon tile in a standard set, making large groupings (especially kongs and quints with Jokers) particularly valuable and difficult to assemble.
Winds & Dragons hands vary widely in structure each year. Some hands use only Winds, others only Dragons, and many combine both. Numbered tiles from the three suits sometimes appear as supporting elements, for example, a hand might call for a pung of a specific number alongside Wind and Dragon groups. Flowers are commonly included as well.
Point values in this section tend to be moderate to high, often 30 to 50 points. The difficulty of collecting honor tiles, which cannot be obtained through strategic suit selection the way numbered tiles can, justifies the higher scores. Concealed Winds & Dragons hands are among the most rewarding on the card.
Strategy for Winds & Dragons Hands
Honor tile hands demand a distinct strategic approach:
- Early collection, Winds and Dragons are often discarded early by players chasing numbered-tile sections like 2468 or Consecutive Run. Pay close attention to early discards and be ready to call them for exposures if your hand allows.
- Joker dependency, Because only four copies of each honor tile exist, building a kong of Winds or Dragons almost always requires Jokers. Prioritize keeping Jokers in your hand when pursuing this section.
- Charleston strategy, During the Charleston, pass numbered tiles aggressively. Keep all Winds, Dragons, and Jokers. If you receive honor tiles during the pass, that reinforces this section as a viable path.
- Flexibility within the section, The Winds & Dragons section typically offers hands that use different combinations of honor tiles. If you start with two Norths and two Red Dragons, scan the section for hands that incorporate both. Stay flexible until your collection narrows the options.
- Scarcity awareness, With only four copies per honor tile, if you see two of a specific Wind in opponents' discards, only two remain. Adjust your hand target accordingly.
Defensively, be cautious discarding Winds and Dragons mid-to-late game. An opponent who has made no exposures may be building a concealed honor hand, or they may be waiting for a specific Wind or Dragon to complete. Discarding the wrong honor tile can be a costly hot tile.
One underappreciated advantage: honor tiles are less contested than popular numbered tiles. While several players might compete for even numbers or consecutive runs, the Winds & Dragons section is often pursued by only one player at the table.
Reading Winds & Dragons Hands on the Card
Winds & Dragons hands on the card use letter abbreviations for honor tiles:
- N, E, S, W represent the four Winds (North, East, South, West)
- R = Red Dragon, G = Green Dragon, 0 = White Dragon (Soap)
- F = Flower
- Numbered tiles, when present, follow the standard color coding for suits
A typical Winds & Dragons hand might read: NNN EEE SSSS WW, meaning a pung of North, a pung of East, a kong of South, and a pair of West. Another might read: FF NNNN SSSS DD, two Flowers, a kong of North, a kong of South, and a pair of Dragons.
Pay special attention to whether the hand specifies exact Winds (N, E, S, W) or uses a generic notation that allows any Wind. Some hands require all four different Winds, while others require multiples of just one or two.
The C marking is common in this section, particularly for hands with high point values. Concealed honor hands are powerful but demanding, requiring you to draw every tile from the wall without calling discards.
During hand selection, count your honor tiles immediately. If you start with three or more Winds and Dragons combined, the Winds & Dragons section deserves serious consideration.