Definition
A safe tile is a discard that cannot complete any hand suggested by the exposures on the table, usually because all its copies are already visible or no exposed set can use it.
The safest discard is a tile of which three copies are already out, since nobody can be holding a pair of it. Defensive play late in a hand is mostly the art of finding safe tiles without wrecking your own hand.
At the table
Safe tiles run out, which is why defence is a plan rather than a reaction. If you wait until your only options are hot, you have left it too late. The mistake is hoarding safe tiles you will never need while feeding the table the ones you should have kept, so start setting one aside the moment a second exposure appears.
Also called cold tile.
Read the full guide: What Not to Discard: Defensive Play in American Mahjong.
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.
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Related: Hot tile, Table rules, Picking ahead, Open rack. All 52 terms.