Definition
The dragons are the twelve tiles in red, green, and white (soap), four of each, with each colour tied to one suit.
On the card a D means a dragon. Its colour is relative like every colour on the card, so a D in the same colour as a group of numbers is the dragon of that group's suit, and a D in a different colour belongs to a different suit.
At the table
Dragons pair with suits (red with craks, green with bams, the soap with dots), but a line can call for the dragon of the suit you are playing or, as opposite dragons, one from a suit you are not. So a lone dragon is worth keeping while a line you are still going for calls for it. Once none of them can use it, let it go early, because late in the hand any dragon can be live for an opponent who is showing a suit.
Read the full guide: American Mahjong Tiles, Explained: All 152, Suit by Suit.
Lesson 1, Meet the Tiles, teaches this in its step "Dragons, and the Soap". The lesson is free. Start Lesson 1, free.
See it on real tiles. The AI coach reads a dealt hand, free, and names the direction it goes for, what to keep and what to pass, at the free read.
Want the coach on call? The Club adds the coach for your own tiles and for each morning’s hand, all 10 lessons, and every new NMJL card taught the week it lands, for $14.99 a month, cancel anytime. See what the Club includes.
Related: Soap, Suit, Craks, Bams, Dots, Winds. All 52 terms.