Fantasy sumo works like fantasy football, with rikishi instead of quarterbacks. You draft a stable of real sumo wrestlers, then score points for what they actually do in the ring across a 15-day tournament (a basho). Here's the whole game in five steps.
Start a private league with friends or join an open one. The commissioner (Riji-chō) sets the roster size and scoring, then everyone's in.
Before the basho begins, teams take turns in a snake draft picking real sumo wrestlers — from Yokozuna down through the ranks. Balance star power against depth; you can't all draft the same Ozeki.
As the 15-day tournament plays out, your wrestlers earn you points for real results — wins, a winning record, upsets, special prizes, and the championship. Scores update automatically each day.
Sumo is brutal and wrestlers go kyūjo (withdraw hurt). Each team can name one bench alternate and sub them in for an injured starter, so a mid-basho injury doesn't sink your tournament.
Points roll up into a live leaderboard. Track your stable, talk trash, and chase the yūshō. When the basho ends, the top team takes the title.
Like a sumo stablemaster, you draft and manage your own stable of rikishi. Every bout they win, every kachikoshi and yūshō they earn, scores for your team.
One player per league runs the show: sets the roster size, draft format, and scoring, then starts the draft and crowns the champion. Every league sets its own rules — the numbers below are the default, and your Riji-chō may have changed them.
By default each Oyakata drafts a stable of 5 rikishi, with tier caps to keep things competitive: at most 3 from the Sanyaku ranks (Yokozuna, Ozeki, Sekiwake, Komusubi), and at least 2 from the elite Maegashira ranks. Drafts run snake order — round 1 goes 1→N, round 2 goes N→1 — on a 120-second pick clock; if time runs out, the highest-ranked available rikishi is auto-picked. Riji-chō can adjust every one of these numbers.
Default point values — every league's Riji-chō can customize them. Terms you don't recognize are in the sumo glossary.
| Event | Points | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Win (per bout) | +2 | Every victory by a wrestler on your roster. |
| Kachikoshi | +5 | A wrestler clinches a winning record (8+ wins). |
| Kinboshi | +4 | A Maegashira upsets a Yokozuna — sumo's gold star. |
| Zenshō | +10 | A perfect 15–0 tournament. |
| Sanshō (special prize) | +8 | Shukun-shō, Kantō-shō, or Ginō-shō. |
| Jun-yūshō | +7 | Tournament runner-up. |
| Yūshō (championship) | +15 | Your wrestler wins the Emperor's Cup. |
Kyūjo:when a rikishi withdraws hurt, they score 0 until subbed out. Each team can name one bench alternate and swap them in for an injured starter — the alternate starts scoring from the day they're activated. Ties: the standings resolve by total points, then total wins, then kinboshi, then kachikoshi, then yūshō — any team still level after that chain is shown as a co-leader.
Yes — Dohyo Dynasty is free to play. Create or join a league and draft your stable at no cost.
No. If you can pick wrestlers you like, you can play — and you'll pick up the sport fast. New to the terms? Start with our sumo glossary.
A basho is a professional sumo tournament. There are six a year, each running 15 days, with top-division wrestlers competing once per day. Your fantasy scoring runs across the whole basho.
Any time. Set up your league now and draft before the next basho begins so your roster is locked in for Day 1.
Browse the wrestlers, start a league, and draft before the next basho.
Start playing free →Prefer the short version? Try the Dojo — a 7-beat walkthrough of the whole game.