It turns a defensive scramble into a positional vice.
The Outflank Agari is a move for the strategist who wants to dictate the flow of the game. It transitions the board state from "My opponent is attacking me" to "My opponent is trapped." outflank agari
(also referred to as sashikomi or kabe-riichi in some strategic contexts) is an advanced tactical concept in Riichi Mahjong. It refers to a situation where a player deliberately avoids a conventional winning hand (cheap or dangerous) to pursue a different, often larger or more secure, winning tile that bypasses an opponent’s defensive waiting pattern. The goal is to “outflank” an opponent’s riichi or tenpai by winning on a tile they cannot defend against or by stealing a win from under their nose. It turns a defensive scramble into a positional vice