How drafting works

A prediction game for the upcoming basho: draft a seven-wrestler team, one pick per rank band, so your roster spans the whole banzuke instead of stacking the top.

• Sanyaku — a Yokozuna, Ōzeki, Sekiwake or Komusubi
• M1–M4 · M5–M8 · M9–M12 · M13–M16+ — one Maegashira from each block
• Any Makuuchi — a free pick from the top division
• Jūryō — one wrestler from the second division

The draft opens when the banzuke is released and locks once the basho begins — no swaps after that, even for injury or absence.

How scoring works

• +1 for every match a wrestler wins across the 15 days
• Upset bonus for beating a sanyaku opponent — one point per rank gap: a Maegashira over a Komusubi is +1, over a Yokozuna +4; Komusubi over Sekiwake +1 … over Yokozuna +3; Sekiwake over Ozeki +1, over Yokozuna +2; Ozeki over Yokozuna +1
• +5 for each Sanshō (special prize) a wrestler earns
• +5 for the Makuuchi Yūshō

How rankings work

Beyond each basho’s score, every player carries a long-term banzuke rank — shown next to your name on the leaderboard — that climbs and falls tournament to tournament, just like real sumo. Everyone begins at the bottom, Jonokuchi, in their very first basho.

• Graded on the curve. Each basho you’re scored on your win rate — your team’s total wins out of the maximum possible (roster size × 15 days, injuries included) — and ranked against everyone else in the league.
• Climb, hold, or fall. Finish in the top half of the field and you move up the banzuke; finish around the middle and you hold your rank; finish in the bottom half and you slide down — and the worse your record, the further you fall.
• Easy to start, hard at the top. Reaching Jūryō (the first salaried division) comes fairly quickly for a solid run; breaking into Makuuchi is harder, and climbing through it to the sanyaku (Komusubi, Sekiwake, Ōzeki) is harder still. A genuinely good player holds their Makuuchi rank.
• Yokozuna is earned, not rushed. The pinnacle can’t be reached in fewer than six tournaments — even topping the curve six straight times isn’t enough — and keeping the rope means staying near the very top of the field.

The full ladder, bottom to top: Jonokuchi · Jonidan · Sandanme · Makushita · Jūryō · Maegashira · Komusubi · Sekiwake · Ōzeki · Yokozuna. Your rank carries forward every basho, so it’s consistency over a whole year — not one hot tournament — that climbs the banzuke.