Tenpai Dragon

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Tenpai Dragon
"Tenpai Dragon Zhongdora"
"Tenpai Dragon Zhongdora"
Japanese
  • 天（てん）盃（ぱい）龍（りゅう）
  • 天盃龍 (base)
  • てんぱいりゅう (ruby)
  • Tenpairyū (romanized)
Sets
OCG
Lists

"Tenpai Dragon" (天（てん）盃（ぱい）龍（りゅう） Tenpairyū) is an archetype of FIRE Dragon monsters introduced in Legacy of Destruction. It is closely related to the "Sangen" archetype.

Design

Etymology

The theme's name is a play on tenpai (聴（テン）牌（パイ）), a term in mahjong that means "one tile short of a winning hand", but written with characters meaning "emperor's gift cup". A hand is recognized as tenpai when only one more tile is needed to complete it. It is an important concept of mahjong, as recognition of a tenpai hand allows the player to make the best decisions on which tiles to best discard.

The members of the archetype are based on the Sānyuánpái (三元牌, lit. "Three fundamental tiles"), a group of three tiles used in mahjong. They are said to represent Heaven, Earth, and Man. Alternatively, it is also said that they represent the three core Confucian values. Western styles of mahjong refer to these three tiles as "Dragon tiles".

Their names are also a play on dora (ドラ), bonus tiles that add han value to a winning hand. Dora uses the same kana as the first two kana used for "dragon" (ドラゴン doragon).

The name of the related "Sangen" archetype is taken from Sangenpai, the Japanese reading of the aforementioned Sānyuánpái, but written with characters meaning "brilliant apparition​". The name of each "Sangen" monster is a reference on a specific yaku, a hand pattern or condition that determines the value of a hand in that game.

Tenpai Dragon Sānyuánpái Dragon tile
Baidora Bái (白) White
Fadora Fā (發) Green
Zhongdora Zhōng (中) Red

Playing style

Recommended cards

Recommended cards
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