Suu Kantsu
四槓子 | Suu Kantsu
Declare four kans in a single hand -- the rarest yakuman achievable through play.
By Kenji Tanaka · Updated
Overview
Suu kantsu, four kans, is a yakuman earned when one player declares all four of their melds as quads, an exceptionally rare feat since it requires assembling the fourth copy of four different tiles in a single hand. Each kan flips a new kan-dora indicator and draws a replacement from the dead wall, so a suu kantsu hand reveals a great deal and reshapes the wall heavily as it builds. It overlaps with toitoi and, when the kans are concealed, with the concealed-triplet yaku, and the fu from four quads is enormous, though the yakuman value caps the score regardless. A special rule governs kans across the table: in many rule sets, if four kans are declared by two or more different players, the hand ends in an abortive draw, so only one player declaring all four can complete suu kantsu. It is one of the least frequently seen hands in all of mahjong.
Example Hand
1111m 3333p 5555s 9999s 2z 2z
Conditions
- The hand must contain four kans (four declared sets of four identical tiles)
- The kans can be open (daiminkan or shouminkan) or closed (ankan) — any combination counts
- The remaining two tiles form the pair
- The hand can be open — open kans are allowed
- Declaring four kans requires drawing four extra tiles from the dead wall, and the game may end if the dead wall is exhausted or if another player declares a fifth kan (abortive draw in some rulesets)
- This is widely considered the rarest yakuman that can be achieved through normal gameplay
Strategy Tips
- Suu kantsu is so rare that many experienced players never see it in their lifetime. It requires not only having four sets of four identical tiles but also successfully declaring four kans without another player winning or the game ending.
- After your third kan, opponents will be on high alert. Each kan declaration draws attention, and by the fourth, opponents will play extremely defensively. If possible, try to form closed kans (ankan) to reveal less information.
- Be aware that some rulesets trigger an abortive draw (suukaikan) if a fourth kan is declared by the same player or if four kans total exist across all players. Check the rules in play to make sure four kans by one player are allowed.