Smasher:ESAM

ESAM
Character info
Smash 64 main	Samus
Other Smash 64 character	Pikachu
Melee main	Samus
Other Melee characters	Fox, Pikachu
Brawl mains	Pikachu, Ice Climbers
Other Brawl characters	Bowser, Samus, Zero Suit Samus
Smash 4 main	Pikachu
Other Smash 4 characters	Samus, Mewtwo
Retired Smash 4 character	Corrin
Ultimate main	Pikachu
Other Ultimate character	Mii Brawler
Retired Ultimate characters	Samus, Ice Climbers
Project M mains	Samus, Pikachu
Other Project M character	Donkey Kong
Team info
Former sponsor(s)	CLASH Tournaments, FBC, vVv Gaming, Panda, 26 Rising, Stride Esports
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking	SSBMRank 2016: 68th SSBBRank 2014: 6th PGR 100: 17th PGRU v3 NA: 35th
Best historical ranking	SSBMRank 2016: 68th SSBBRank 2014: 6th PGR v1: 14th OrionRank 2019: 14th
Best tournament result	13th / 940 at Super Smash Con 2016 3rd / 370 at Apex 2014 3rd / 744 at UGC Smash Open 1st / 421 at Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code 4th / 256 at SKTAR 3
Winnings	~$1,975.86 ~$10,403.25 ~$31,261.55 ~$23,869.91
Personal and other info
Real name	Eric Lew
Birth date	November 17, 1992
Location	Central Florida

ESAM is a Smash player from Miami, Florida who is considered one of the most recognizable Pikachu players in all of Smash. He is also a notable commentator and content creator, a member of the Smash Back Room, a former member of the Unity Ruleset Committee, and a former tournament organizer, having previously hosted the Zero Ping series.

ESAM began competing in Super Smash Bros. Melee playing Samus but became better known for his career in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where he initially played Pikachu before becoming a Pikachu and Ice Climbers co-main. He was considered the greatest Pikachu player of all-time and one of the best Ice Climbers players in the world in Brawl's later years. He broke out onto the scene after placing 4th at MLG Orlando 2010 and has since placed top 8 at several other major events. He was considered one of the best players in Brawl in the game's final years, ranking 6th on the SSBBRank 2014. In addition, his Melee career also took off during this time, and he would be ranked on the SSBMRank across four different years. He also competed in Project M for a few years playing Samus, and was one of the best Samus players in the world in 2014.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, ESAM continued to play Pikachu, and was also considered the greatest Pikachu player of all-time in the game. He was a major advocate for Pikachu's viability as a top tier, and was able to showcase Pikachu's strengths by finishing top 8 at many majors during his Smash 4 career, including placing 2nd at Super Smash Con 2015 and The Big House 8, the closest a Pikachu player came to winning a major. In addition to his Pikachu, he also had a Samus secondary, which he used to win Combo Breaker 2017 and infamously eliminate Ally at 2GGC: Civil War. He was ranked on every PGR ranking, and was ultimately ranked 17th on the PGR 100.

In a similar vein to his Smash 4 career, ESAM played Pikachu in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and was the best Pikachu player in the early metagame, becoming a major advocate for Pikachu being one of the best characters in the game. He became the first Pikachu player to win a major, doing so at Glitch 7 - Minus World, and is the only Pikachu player with more than one major win, having also won Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code. At his peak, he was ranked 14th on both the Fall 2019 PGRU and the OrionRank 2019. He became significantly less active in the post-pandemic metagame and eventually picked up Mii Brawler as a co-main. Though his results have since been matched by ShinyMark, he is still considered one of the greatest Pikachu players of all-time.

ESAM regularly teams with MVD in doubles, and the pair are considered one of the best doubles teams in the world. They formerly lived in the same city in Oklahoma and regularly practiced against each other.

On June 24th, 2015, alongside MVD and SS, ESAM was signed by Panda. ESAM left the team after over 7 years, on January 15th, 2023. On March 31st, 2023, ESAM was signed by 26 Rising. His contract would end 3 months later on July 1st, 2023.

Tournament history

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2010 MLG Pro Circuit

ESAM rose to fame when he placed 4th at MLG Orlando 2010. He lost to ADHD early in winners' bracket, but made a long run through losers' bracket, defeating players such as Candy, Fatal, and DieSuperFly, before being eliminated by Tyrant in losers' semis. He placed 8th at MLG Columbus 2010, defeating CO18, Choice, and Tyrant in losers' bracket after losing to Lee Martin in winners' bracket, before being eliminated by Dojo in losers' top 8, and 9th at MLG Raleigh 2010, defeating MVD and CO18 in winners' bracket before losing to Felix and NickRiddle. Lastly, he placed 4th at MLG DC 2010, losing to Havok in winners' bracket, but defeating NickRiddle, Lee Martin, Tyrant, Ally, and mikeHAZE to make it to losers' semis, where he lost to Mew2King.

By this time, ESAM had become recognized for his solid Pikachu play. Due to his great placings throughout the MLG 2010 circuit, ESAM received second seed in the championship bracket at MLG Dallas 2010, behind Ally. He lost to Gnes in winners' finals 1-3 and then proceeded to lose to Tyrant 1-3 in losers' finals, placing 3rd in the championship.

2011 to 2013

At Pound V, ESAM defeated Ally 2-1 in winners' bracket before losing to Anti 0-2 in winners' semis. He eliminated UltimateRazer 2-0 in losers' quarters, but lost to Ally 1-2 in a rematch in losers' semis, placing 4th. He placed 17th at WHOBO 3, losing to MVD 0-2 in winners' bracket and Illmatic in losers' bracket, and 9th at GENESIS 2, defeating Zex and Rich Brown in winners' bracket, before losing to Mew2King 1-3 in winners' bracket and Zex in a rematch in losers' bracket.

ESAM placed 4th at Apex 2012, defeating RAIN in winners' bracket before losing to Otori. In losers' bracket, he defeated Gnes, UltimateRazer 2-1, and Kakera 2-1, before losing to Nietono 0-3 in losers' semis. The last two matches of his set against Kakera are known as two of the greatest Ice Climbers ditto matches in Brawl history.

At SKTAR, ESAM defeated Salem 2-0, Nakat, Anti 2-1, and Ally 2-1 to make it to winners' finals, where he lost to Nairo 1-3. In losers' finals, he defeated Vinnie 3-0, including an Ice Climbers ditto victory. He lost to Nairo 0-3 in grand finals, placing 2nd. ESAM also won his first national in August 2012 at WHOBO 4. He defeated Denti, MJG, Kain, and Will in winners' bracket to make it to winners' finals, where he defeated Gnes 3-2. In grand finals, he defeated Ally 3-1.

At Apex 2013, ESAM defeated Leon 2-1 in winners' bracket, before losing to Anti 1-2. He defeated Suinoko in losers' bracket before being eliminated by Mr. R, finishing at 13th place. He attended SKTAR 2 later that year, where he lost to Tyrant 1-2 early in winners' bracket, and then made a run through losers' bracket, defeating Atomsk, Xzax, and Ally 2-1, before being eliminated by ZeRo 0-2 in losers' top 8, placing 7th.

2014 to 2015

At Apex 2014, ESAM defeated Salem and Tyrant in winners' bracket, and then defeated ZeRo 2-0 in winners' semis, including a 3-stock in game 2 whilst at only 22% damage. In winners' finals, he lost to Nairo 1-3, and he was then eliminated by ZeRo 0-3 in a rematch in losers' finals, placing 3rd. ESAM also entered Project M singles at the event, and placed 9th, defeating players such as OkamiBW, Eli, and Plup, before losing to Sethlon 0-2.

ESAM placed 3rd once again in Brawl singles at SKTAR 3. In winners' bracket, he defeated Leon and V115 2-0, as well as Ally 2-1 in winners' semis, in a set that went down to the last 5 seconds of game 3, with ESAM getting the final KO with a forward smash. In winners' finals, he lost to 9B 2-3, and then he was eliminated by Nairo 1-3 in losers' finals. ESAM also placed 4th in Project M singles, defeating Mango, ZeRo, and Zhime 2-0 in winners' bracket, before losing to Emukiller 1-3 in winners' semis. He defeated Armada 2-0 in losers' quarters before being eliminated by Mew2King 0-3 in losers' semis.

At CEO 2014, ESAM placed 9th in Project M singles, losing to Wizzrobe 0-2 in winners' bracket and NickRiddle 0-2 in losers' bracket.

At Super Smash Con, ESAM finished 2nd in Brawl singles. He beat MVD 3-0 in winners semis before losing to Mew2King 3-0 in winners finals. In losers' bracket, he defeated Nairo for the first time ever, 3-1 in losers finals. He lost 3-0 in a rematch with Mew2King in grand finals, where he went Samus in Game 2 and Bowser in Game 3.

Smash 4

At the beginning of Smash 4, ESAM was invited to Sky's Smash 4 Invitational where he lost to FOW 0-2 in winners. In losers he defeated Trela 2-1, Zinoto 2-0, FOW 3-0, and ZeRo 3-1 before losing to Mr. R 1-3 and placing second.

To start out 2015, ESAM entered Final Battle where he defeated Rich Brown in winners before losing to Larry Lurr. In losers, he defeated Bloodcross and SlayerZ before being eliminated by Zex and placing 5th. His next major event was CEO 2015, where he defeated Trela 2-0 and Dabuz 2-1 before being sent to losers 1-3 by ZeRo and eliminated by Larry Lurr 1-3 and netting another 5th place finish. He later attended EVO 2015, the largest smash tournament at the time where he defeated 8BitMan 2-0 and Regi 2-1 before being sent to losers by Abadango 1-2. In losers, he defeated SS 2-0 before being eliminated by Ally 1-2 and finishing at 7th place.

At Super Smash Con 2015, ESAM defeated DKwill 2-0, and Nairo 3-2 before losing to ZeRo in a very close set in winners finals, 2-3. He would then defeat Nairo 3-1 in losers finals before losing his rematch with ZeRo 0-3 in grand finals, where he used Yoshi in Game 2. ESAM later traveled to California for Paragon Los Angeles 2015, where he defeated Angbad 2-0 and Zex 2-0 before losing to 6WX 0-2. In losers he defeated AC 2-0 before losing to SlayerZ 1-2 and finishing at 13th place. In October, ESAM traveled to Michigan for The Big House 5; he also entered Smashfield Weeklies 9 which was happening before the event. At the weekly, he defeated Megafox 2-1, Abadango 2-0, and Ally 3-2 before Ally defeated him 3-1 in both sets of grand finals. At The Big House 5 itself ESAM defeated smasher1001 2-0, and Shel 2-0 to make it into top 32. In Top 32, ESAM defeated Trela 2-0 before losing to Dabuz 0-3 and being eliminated by ZeRo 1-3 and ultimately finishing at 9th place.

He finished 3rd in Smash 4 singles at MLG World Finals 2015. In winners' bracket, he beat NickRiddle 3-2, GrimTurtle 3-0, and Nairo's Dr. Mario 3-1 in winners semis before falling to ZeRo 3-1 in winners finals. He then lost a rematch with Nairo's Dr. Mario 3-0 in losers finals, where he switched to Samus in Game 3 after losing twice in a row with his Pikachu.

At Tipped Off 11, he defeated iPunchKidsz 2-0, and Leaf FC 2-0 to make it out of pools. In top 32 he defeated Kodystri 2-0, ScAtt 2-0, and Vinnie 3-1 before losing to ZeRo 1-3 in winners finals. In losers finals, he defeated Vinnie 3-1 again before being eliminated by ZeRo 3-0 and ultimately finishing 2nd.

To finish off the year, ESAM entered Frame Perfect Series where he defeated Day 2-0 to make it out of pools. In bracket ESAM lost to DJ Jack 1-2. In losers ESAM defeated Day 2-0 again, Ryo 2-1, Manny 3-2, and Fatality 3-1 before being eliminated by DJ Jack 3-1 finishing in 4th place.

To start out 2016, ESAM was flown out to California to attend 2GGT: ESAM Saga. At the tournament, he defeated Aarvark 2-0 and S2H 2-0 to make top 16. In top 16 he defeated falln 2-1 before losing to K9sbruce 1-3 in winners semis. ESAM was then defeated by Tyrant 2-3 and placed 5th place at his own tournament. At GENESIS 3, ESAM defeated Rice 2-0 before being upset by Teb 1-2 in round 2 pools. In losers' bracket, he defeated J! 2-1 and Seagull Joe 2-0 to make top 32. In top 32 he eliminated RIN 3-0 and Manny 3-0 before losing 3-2 to Nairo, who lost the first two games with Dr. Mario before winning three in a row with Zero Suit Samus. At PAX Arena, ESAM was upset 1-3 by Jbandrew in top 32. In losers bracket he defeated Mew2King 3-2 to make top 8 losers side. In top 8 he lost to Vinnie 1-3 and finished in 7th place. At TGC 6 ESAM defeated Mew2 2-0 and Jbandrew 2-0 to make top 8 winners side; however, top 8 was canceled, and the pot was split evenly among the remaining 8 competitors.

ESAM at B.E.A.S.T. 6

At B.E.A.S.T 6, he finished 3rd in Smash 4 singles defeating vyQ 2-1. and cyve 2-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he defeated wilksy15 2-0 before losing to Mr. R 2-3 in winners finals and being upset by iStudying 2-3 in losers finals. He also placed 9th in Melee singles defeating Vanity Angel 2-1 in winners and Baxon 3-1 in losers. He also teamed with MVD to win Smash 4 doubles over Mr. R and cyve.

At Shots Fired 2, ESAM defeated Venom 2-1 to make top 32. In top 32 he lost to ANTi 2-0 and in losers he defeated C3PO 2-0 before being eliminated by Ranai 1-3. At Pound 2016 ESAM defeated Camalange 2-1 to make it to round 2 pools. In round 2 he defeated Wizzrobe 2-1 before losing to Marss 1-2. In losers bracket he defeated Raptor 2-0 to make top 16 where he defeated NAKAT 3-0 and was eliminated by Ally 2-3 and placing 9th. At TGC 7, ESAM was upset by CaptainZack 0-2 in pools. In top 32 he defeated RunC.T. 2-0, GrimTurtle 2-0, L.U.C.Y 2-0, Pugwest 2-0, and Karna 2-0 before being eliminated by his teammate MVD 0-2 and finishing in 5th place.

ESAM was able to end his losing streak by taking first at Paradigm Shift, defeating Fatality 3-0 in winners finals and grand finals. He also won Combo Breaker 2016 defeating smasher1001 2-0, Skorpio 2-0, Dekillsage 3-0, JJROCKETS 3-2, and Tyroy 3-2.

His short win streak was ended at Midwest Mayhem 3, where he lost to Tyroy 0-2 in winners quarters. In losers bracket he defeated MVD 2-1, BoScotty 3-0, and Ksev 3-1 before being eliminated by False 2-3 and ultimately finishing in 4th place. At Low Tier City 4 ESAM lost to Hyuga 1-2 in bracket. In losers he defeated Aerolink and MJG to make top 8 losers side. In top 8 he defeated P2P with Gibus 3-0 before being eliminated by Hyuga 1-3. At CEO 2016 ESAM defeated Mister Eric 2-0 to make it out of pools. In top 64 he defeated Wrath 2-1 before losing to Dabuz 0-2 and being eliminated by Saj 1-2 and placing 17th. At EVO 2016 ESAM was upset by NickC 1-2 in pools. In losers he eliminated Sinji 2-0, Falln 2-0, DJ Jack 2-0, and HIKARU 2-0 before being eliminated by Trela 1-2 and finishing at a disappointing 25th place. At Trail Gaming League 8, ESAM took the tournament defeating Seibrik, NickRiddle, and MVD, but not before MVD reset the bracket. At Super Smash Con 2016, ESAM defeated Rayquaza07 2-1 in round 2 pools before losing 0-2 to Ryo and Dark Wizzy, finishing at an all time low of 33rd place. However, he performed well in Melee, getting 13th and defeating lloD, Zhu, and Westballz.

ESAM saw a return to form starting at Shine 2016, where he defeated Manny 3-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he defeated Mew2King 3-1 to move onto winners finals where he lost to ZeRo 1-3. In losers finals he defeated Dath 3-2 before being eliminated by ZeRo 0-3 in grand finals. At Trail Gaming League 9 he defeated True Blue, Saj 2-0, Wormynugget 2-1, dyr 3-0 and Zinoto 3-1 en route to a first place finish. However, ESAM fell back down in results at The Big House 6 where he lost to Frozen 1-2 in round 1 pools. In losers he eliminated Puppeh 2-0 and Ned 2-1 before losing to CaptainZack 1-2 and placing yet another 33rd place. At Trail Gaming League 10, ESAM defeated Xaltis 2-0 and Child 2-0 before falling to False 0-3 in winners finals and MVD 1-3 in losers finals. At Midwest Mayhem 5, ESAM was upset by JDB! 2-3 in winners quarters. In losers bracket, he eliminated Seth 3-1 to make top 8 losers side. In top 8, he eliminated Nero 3-0, JJROCKETS 3-2, and MVD 3-2 before falling to Zinoto 1-3 in losers finals.

Late November and early December, ESAM had by far his best performance of the year. At Kings of the North, he took first place defeating Skorpio 2-0, yeti 3-1, and JJROCKETS 3-0 and 3-1. At UGC Smash Open, he defeated James 2-0 and Salem 3-1 to make it out of pools. In top 48 he defeated VoiD 3-2 and CaptainZack 3-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he narrowly lost to Abadango 2-3. In losers quarters he defeated VoiD 3-2 again and Nairo 3-1 before being eliminated by Abadango 3-0 finishing with a very respectable 3rd place.

At Don't Park on the Grass, ESAM was upset by Snickeldorf 0-2 in pools and after a long losers bracket run was eliminated by Captain L 0-3 finishing out the year at 9th place.

At the start of 2017, ESAM attended Smash Conference LXIX where he defeated Myran 2-0 before losing to Samsora 1-2 in winners quarters. In losers bracket ESAM defeated Child 2-1, NickRiddle 2-1, Wormynugget 2-0, and Mew2King 3-2, before being eliminated by Samsora 1-3 starting off the year with a solid 3rd place.

ESAM later traveled to California for 2GGC: GENESIS Saga and GENESIS 4. At 2GGC: GENESIS Saga ESAM was defeated by Zenyou 1-2 in winners finals of their pool. In losers he defeated Jingen 3-0 before being eliminated by Dabuz 0-3 and finishing at 25th place. At a pre-GENESIS 4 Mega Smash Mondays, he lost to Tyrant 1-2 and was sent to losers. In losers, he defeated Marss 2-1, Javi 2-1, and Tyrant 2-1, before losing to MkLeo 0-3 and finishing in 4th place. At GENESIS 4, ESAM was upset by AeroLink 0-2 in winners finals of their round 1 pools. In losers, ESAM went on a losers bracket run defeating False 2-0, Mr. ConCon 2-1, Samsora 2-1, Ito 2-0, Earth 3-1, and Chag 3-0 before losing to ZeRo 1-3 and finishing at 13th place.

In February ESAM was invited to Niconico Tokaigi 2017. At the event he defeated Kameme 2-0 before falling to Kirihara 1-2 and KEN 0-2 to finish 9th.

ESAM was invited to PAX Arena at PAX East 2017 where he lost to Larry Lurr 2-3 in winners. In losers he defeated Pink Fresh 3-2 and Marss 3-1 before losing to Dabuz 1-3 en route to a 4th place finish.

At Frame Perfect Series 2, ESAM defeated dyr 2-0 and Cashmere 3-1 on his way to winners quarters. His run ended at 9th place with back to back losses to Kirihara 0-3 and Salem 2-3.

At 2GGC: Civil War, ESAM placed 17th, outplacing many upset top players. His run started with a very close 2-1 victory over Raffi-X to make it out of pools. In top 96 ESAM lost to Kirihara 0-3 sending him to the losers bracket where he defeated ImHip 3-0 to make it into top 32. His true accomplishment at the tournament was that he finally took a set from Ally. After losing game 1 with Mewtwo, he then opted with the low-tier character Samus, and took 3 straight games from Ally in dominant fashion. His run was then ended by HIKARU's Donkey Kong in a 1-3 set loss.

At Dubai x VG Bootcamp, ESAM placed 1st, defeating Fairess 2-0, Pugwest 3-0, Marss 3-1 and MVD 3-2.

At the Florida national CEO Dreamland, ESAM defeated Bloodcross and NAKAT 2-1 as well as Larry Lurr 3-1 and VoiD 3-2 to make top 8 winners side. Once in top 8 ESAM fell to ZeRo and Dabuz both 1-3 and ultimately finished in 5th place.

ESAM notably won Smashadelphia 2017, defeating Dabuz 3-1 in winners finals. In grand finals, he lost the first set to Dabuz 1-3, but ultimately won the second set 3-2.

Best Pikachu returns

Prior to the release of Ultimate, ESAM was already hyping up Pikachu's potential in the new game, noting the new combos the character could perform thanks to its new neutral air. ESAM proved his opinions right at Don't Park on the Grass 2018, where he placed 2nd out of over 500 players and falling only to MVD.

Sticking with Pikachu, ESAM began the first Ultimate season with a strong 7th place finish at GENESIS 6, defeating Ally and Tweek along the way. This, however, initially seemed as an outlier: despite consistently placing top 8 at a regional level during that season, including winning Battle of BC 3 over Ally, ESAM saw mediocre results on a national level, placing 65th at Frostbite 2019, 33rd at 2GG: Prime Saga, and 25th at Pound 2019. He also struggled against the Peach matchup and notably lost two sets against the up-and-coming Peach player MuteAce. Both his results and his struggle against Peach, however, did not deter ESAM, and he continued to lab Pikachu to try and bring out its true potential. This potential was shown at Get On My Level 2019, where ESAM ran through Ally, Cosmos, Nairo, and even MkLeo to ultimately place 3rd, his best tournament run of the season. ESAM capped off the first season with a 9th place at CEO 2019, where he finally overcame the Peach matchup by defeating MuteAce. Due to these performances and wins, ESAM was ranked 16th on the Spring 2019 PGRU.

ESAM's second season was somewhat similar to his first. ESAM's result once again saw several dips as he underperformed at both Low Tier City 7 and EVO 2019, losing to players who weren't ranked on the PGR at that time. His performances at other supermajors such as Super Smash Con 2019 and Shine 2019 were solid; however, it was because of relatively easy brackets, and he failed to make any notable upsets.

Despite these setbacks, however, ESAM ended up seeing his best season yet, largely due to his performances at both Glitch 7 - Minus World and Smash Ultimate Summit 2. At Glitch 7, ESAM tore through the entire tournament, defeating Nairo, Tweek, and Light twice to win the tournament, marking his first victory at a major tournament. At Summit, ESAM once again defeated MkLeo as well as Dabuz and Zackray, but fell to his bracket demons MuteAce and Maister to place 5th. These results, as well as his victory at the Canadian regional Rising Stars at EGLX 2019, once again cemented him as a top 20 player, and he rose two spots on the Fall 2019 PGRU, placing 14th.

Coming off of a rather inconsistent season, ESAM began the third season looking better than ever, placing 3rd at Glitch 8 - Missingno and 4th at GENESIS 7. The season, however, was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought tournament play online for a full year. This did not hinder ESAM, as his character was largely unaffected in the online metagame. Although underperforming at The Quarantine Series Opening Invitational, he placed 9th at the next Quarantine Series tournament, defeating Kola. His final, and best, notable placement was at The Box, where despite being upset by Gos, he made a grueling Loser's run, defeating Sparg0 and Epic_Gabriel along the way, to ultimately place 4th. These results allowed him to be ranked 14th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5, mirroring his Fall 2019 PGRU placement.

Although ESAM was rather inactive at WWR-ranked tournaments in the following season, he returned during the seventh season, mostly to participate in online tournament circuits. He qualified for The Pandemic Anniversary Series by winning the second qualifier, Return to Subspace: ONLINE, over Capitancito, and saw another top 8 placement at the fourth qualifier, Collision Online 2021. He then qualified for the SWT: NA East Ultimate Regional Finals by placing 2nd at SWT: NA Southeast Ultimate Online Qualifier, losing to Vendetta twice. His final notable tournament of the online era was at Pandemic Anniversary Series: Finale, where he once again placed top 8. Although he did not attend that many tournaments, ESAM's results at the notable tournaments he did attend helped him be ranked 18th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7.

Brief contender for the best

ESAM was absent during the first few months of the metagame's transition back to offline. When he returned, however, he returned with a bang. At Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code, ESAM defied expectations by once again tearing through the bracket in a similar vein to his Glitch 7 run; however, this time, he also defeated MkLeo twice - both times in the fourth game - to win the tournament, marking his second major victory. Following this run, many players began to consider ESAM as a potential candidate for the best player in the world, especially since many players in the United States also considered Pikachu to be one of the best characters in the game.

Ultimately, however, ESAM fell short of these expectations, as he failed to come close to the run he had at Glitch 8.5. Despite being seeded first at Super Smash Con: Fall Fest, he fell short significantly by losing to ApolloKage and IcyMist to place 17th. Although he came out of Round Robin on the winner's side at SWT: NA East Ultimate Regional Finals, he fell to Kola and Wrath to place 7th, failing to qualify for the championship tournament. His final two tournaments - Mainstage 2021 and CEO 2021 - also ended in disappointment: despite placing top 16 at both tournaments, he failed to make any notable upsets. These placements dashed away any hopes for ESAM to be the best player in the post-pandemic metagame, and by the end of the year, he was ranked in the A-tier (or top 13) on the PGRUContenders North America - below other players who had won major tournaments that season such as Light and Kola - and 18th in the world on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse.

Decline

The first half of ESAM's 2022 was rather uneventful, as he only attended 3 notable tournaments: GENESIS 8, Combo Breaker 2022, and Battle of BC 4. He only had a single top 50 win -- Tweek at GENESIS -- and failed to place top 8 at any of the three tournaments. Due to his low activity, he was relegated to an Honorable Mention on the OrionRank Mid-Year 2022, with his Combo Breaker 2022 result being ignored due to his perceived "sandbagging" with his new secondary Mii Brawler throughout most of the tournament, and was ranked 35th on the PGRU v3 NA, a significant drop from his top 13 placement on the PGRContenders list. Likewise, his second half was also barren as he attended a total of four notable events with mixed results: although he placed well at Shine 2022 and Lost Tech City 2022, defeating MuteAce in the latter event, he placed lukewarmly at The Big House 10 and DreamHack Atlanta 2022. In spite of the low activity, ESAM had enough events to be ranked on the OrionRank 2022; however, due to an overall mediocre season, he was only ranked 82nd.

ESAM's OrionRank 2022 placement remains the last time he was ever ranked on a global scale, in part due to his lower activity at a national level and worse results than previous years. Throughout 2023, he attended a total of seven events, placing no higher than 33rd at the four majors he attended while also underperforming at the superregional Santa Paws, with his only top 100 player win being BeastModePaul. In addition, for the first time ever, his title as the best Pikachu player was challenged and even taken away from him, due to the rise of ShinyMark throughout 2023 and into 2024, who eventually replaced ESAM as Pikachu's primary top-level representative.

Playstyle

ESAM is characterized for heavy aggression, with the ability to quickly switch into a campy and defensive playstyle. He is also known for his prowess in edge guarding and combo game with Pikachu, who he has mained across most of the Smash titles.

In neutral, ESAM plays aggressively due to the plethora of quick and safe options that often lead into a combo, which he will take to the furthest hit. His movement is also exemplary and improved upon in Smash 4 using Bidou, with emphasis on perfect pivoting and Quick Attack canceling. This, along with his aggressiveness, allows him to continously pressure his opponent and force them offstage to where, with Pikachu's many options, he will edgeguard them and attempt to take their stock. However, if he cannot play aggressively, usually against players that can counter his aggression or stall the match to their pace, he can play campy and spammy, utilizing Pikachu's Thunder Jolt to limit his opponents options and force them to approach. However, this limits himself as well as he cannot utilize his aggression to full potential resulting in him being suppressed and unable to take back control of the match. When he cannot find an opening or cannot edgeguard, ESAM lacks the ability to find a way back into the match unless he regains the momentum to quickly fight back. His edge guarding and edge trapping ability is phenomenal especially against characters with weak or lackluster recoveries. He utilizes Thunder to limit his opponent's options and Pikachu's quick multi-hit aerials to cover large spaces to where the opponent is continuously forced stage. Now, in Ultimate, with the inclusion of Pikachu's down air spike, ESAM has another option to finish off an opponent.

Rankings

Super Smash Bros. Melee

SSBMRank

Ranking	Time Period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
SSBMRank 2013	January - November 2013	93rd
SSBMRank 2014	January - October 5th, 2014	100th
SSBMRank 2015	January - November 2015	81st
SSBMRank 2016	January 15th - December 4th, 2016	68th

Florida Power Rankings/South Florida Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Summer 2015	4th

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

SSBBRank

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
SSBBRank 2014	6th

Florida Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
June 2010	4th
October 2010	2nd
April 2011	1st

North Carolina Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
January 2012	1st

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Panda Global Rankings

Ranking	Time Period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
PGR v1	January 2015 - May 2016	14th
PGR v2	May - December 2016	27th
PGR v3	January 7th - June 18th, 2017	18th
PGR v4	June 24th - December 3rd, 2017	21st
PGR v5	December 23rd, 2017 - July 1st, 2018	21st
PGR 100	January 20th, 2015 - November 18, 2018	17th

OrionRank

Ranking	Time Period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
OrionRank 2016	March 15th - December 18th, 2016	16th
OrionRank 2017	December 24th, 2016 - December 24th, 2017	15th
OrionRank Mid-Spring 2018	January 1st - May 1st, 2018	17th
OrionRank 2018	January 1st - December 2nd, 2018	24th

Oklahoma Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Summer 2018	1st
Fall 2018	1st

Florida Power Rankings/South Florida Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Spring 2015	1st
Summer/Fall 2016	1st
January 2017	1st
Winter 2017	1st
Q2 2017	1st
Q3 2017	1st
2018	2nd

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Panda Global Rankings Ultimate

Ranking	Time Period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Spring 2019 PGRU	February 1st - July 7th, 2019	16th
Fall 2019 PGRU	July 13th - December 15th, 2019	14th
PGRUContenders NA	2021	A
PGRU v3 NA	March 1st - June 13th, 2022	35th

OrionRank Ultimate

Ranking	Time period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
OrionRank Ultimate: Six Months In	January 5th-June 30th, 2019	18th
OrionRank 2019	January 5th-December 15th, 2019	14th
OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse	April 2020-December 19th, 2021	18th
OrionRank Mid-Year 2022	December 22nd, 2021-June 26th, 2022	HM
OrionRank 2022	December 22nd, 2021-December 18th, 2022	82nd

Wi-Fi Warrior Rank

Ranking	Time period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5	January 11th-June 29th, 2020	14th
Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7	January 2nd-June 30th, 2021	18th

OrionRank North America

Ranking	Time period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
OrionRank North America Top 200	January 2019-March 2020	8th
OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse North America	June 2020-December 19th, 2021	11th
OrionRank 2022 North America	December 22nd, 2021-December 18th, 2022	45th

LumiRank North America

Ranking	Time period	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
LumiRank 2023 North America	December 19th, 2022-December 17th, 2023	139th

Oklahoma Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Q1 2019	2nd
Q2 2019	1st
Q3 2019	1st
Q4 2019	1st

Florida Power Rankings/Central Florida Power Rankings

Ranking	Rank	Character(s)	Notes
Q1 2023	5th

Tournament placings

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Smashathon	May 19th, 2007	7th / 22	2nd / 8	Rexx
Doodah 3	December 29th, 2007	4th / 41	7th / 16	Phanna
Gigabits 1/12	January 12th, 2008	9th / 24	7th / 29	Phanna
FAST 1	July 17th-20th, 2008	13th / 78	—	—
Winterfest	December 18th-20th, 2009	9th / 63	—	—
GENESIS 2	July 15th-17th, 2011	41st / 228	—	—
Apex 2013	January 11th-13th, 2013	33rd / 336	—	—
Geeksboro 3	November 2nd, 2013	2nd / 44	1st / 13	PPMD
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	49th / 629	—	—
Smash Carolina 3	March 1st, 2014	1st / 30	1st / 10	Starlord
Shell Shocked XV	May 10th, 2014	4th / 64	—	—
CEO 2014	June 27th-29th, 2014	—	4th / 40	ZeRo
Tipped Off 10	September 20th-21st, 2014	13th / 175	3rd / 44	Axe
DIME 15	June 13th, 2015	2nd	—	—
Paragon Los Angeles 2015	September 5th-6th, 2015	17th / 547	—	—
The Big House 5	October 2nd-4th, 2015	25th / 1,317	—	—
Tipped Off 11	November 7th-8th, 2015	5th / 336	17th / 70	Junebug
Frame Perfect Series	November 21st, 2015	5th / 49	—	—
GENESIS 3	January 15th-17th, 2016	65th / 1,828	—	—
B.E.A.S.T 6	February 19th-21st, 2016	9th / 410	—	—
Tiger Smash 4	March 26th-27th, 2016	2nd / 75	3rd / 23	Starlord
TGC 7	April 9th, 2016	1st	—	—
Smash Summit 2	April 21st-24th, 2016	13th / 16	7th / 8	Ice
DreamHack Austin 2016	May 6th-8th, 2016	17th / 398	—	—
Combo Breaker 2016	May 27th-29th, 2016	4th / 118	—	—
Low Tier City 4	June 18th-19th, 2016	4th / 294	2nd / 51	Hungrybox
CEO 2016	June 24th-26th, 2016	65th / 678	—	—
Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 7/6	July 6th, 2016	1st / 66	—	—
EVO 2016	July 15th-17th, 2016	513th / 2,372	—	—
Super Smash Con 2016	August 11th-14th, 2016	13th / 940	—	—
The Smash House	September 23rd-25th, 2016	5th / 16	4th / 7	FlaminRoy
The Big House 6	October 7th-9th, 2016	—	17th / 323	Kage
Gamers Fight Cancer	October 22nd-23rd, 2016	2nd / 34	1st / 13	Mojo
Smash the Record 2016	November 11th-14th, 2016	65th / 390	—	—
ASH@WIT #85	November 18th, 2016	3rd / 62	—	—
Smash Conference LXIX	January 7th, 2017	—	5th / 18	Hungrybox
DreamHack Austin 2017	April 28th-30th, 2017	—	5th / 66	Hungrybox
DreamHack Montreal 2017	September 8th-10th, 2017	9th / 212	4th / 65	Dizzkidboogie
DreamHack Denver 2017	October 20th-22nd, 2017	—	13th / 64	Joey
Flatiron 3	April 21st, 2018	33rd / 316	17th / 86	Joey
Combo Breaker 2018	May 25th-27th, 2018	—	4th / 16	Joey
DreamHack Austin 2018	June 1st-3rd, 2018	13th / 393	—	—
Low Tier City 7	July 12th-14th, 2019	—	13th / 48	Joey
Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 4	January 29th-30th, 2022	129th / 2,422	—	—

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
FAST 1	July 17th-20th, 2008	33rd / 122	17th / 46	NickRiddle
Zero Ping Monthlies	August 15th, 2009	3rd	—	—
Winterfest	December 18th-20th, 2009	17th / 89	7th / 31	MVD
MLG Orlando 2010	April 16th-18th, 2010	4th / 184	13th / 45	MVD
MLG Columbus 2010	June 4th-6th, 2010	8th / 250	9th / 64	MVD
MLG Raleigh 2010	August 27th-29th, 2010	9th / 148	4th / 42	MVD
MLG DC 2010	October 15th-17th, 2010	4th / 174	5th / 42	MVD
MLG Dallas 2010	November 5th-7th, 2010	3rd / 182	4th / 48	MVD
Pound V	February 19th-21st, 2011	4th / 151	3rd / 48	MVD
WHOBO 3	March 18th-20th, 2011	17th / 139	9th / 50	MVD
WHOBO 3 LT	March 18th-20th, 2011	7th / 47	1st / 21	Poltergust
GENESIS 2	July 15th-17th, 2011	9th / 197	4th / 64	MVD
Apex 2012	January 6th-8th, 2012	4th / 400	13th / 128	MVD
SKTAR	July 14th-15th, 2012	2nd / 140	5th / 52	Mekos
Smashed Together	July 28th, 2012	1st / 37	2nd / 11	MVD
WHOBO 4	August 4th-5th, 2012	1st / 96	2nd / 39	MVD
WABA	November 10th, 2012	1st / 103	5th / 32	Mink
Apex 2013	January 11th-13th, 2013	13th / 338	17th / 110	MVD
Xanadu Games Harlem Shake Edition	February 23rd, 2013	2nd / 16	1st / 8	ZeRo
SKTAR 2	August 3rd-4th, 2013	7th / 141	17th / 45	MVD
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	3rd / 370	3rd / 114	MVD
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/6	May 6th, 2014	2nd / 14	—	—
NickRiddle & 8Bitman's May Brawl/PM Monthly	May 17th, 2014	3rd / 10	—	—
SKTAR 3	May 31st-June 1st, 2014	3rd / 97	3rd / 30	MVD
Tournament:Final Battle	January 17th, 2015	2nd (Split)	2nd (Split)	MVD
Super Smash Con 2015	August 6th-9th, 2015	2nd / 121	13th / 23	MVD
Super Smash Con 2016	August 11th-14th, 2016	65th / 151	—	—

Project M

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Smash @ Xanadu Monthly - 2/23	February 23rd, 2013	—	1st / 9	PPMD
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	9th / 382	—	—
Smash Carolina 3	March 1st, 2014	1st / 43	1st / 15	Atlas
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/6	May 6th, 2014	2nd / 46	—	—
Shell Shocked XV	May 10th, 2014	1st / 43	1st / 9	Seagull Joe
NickRiddle & 8Bitman's May Brawl/PM Monthly	May 17th, 2014	1st / 13	—	—
SKTAR 3	May 31st-June 1st, 2014	4th / 256	4th / 64	MVD
'No JEANS'	June 7th, 2014	1st / 19	3rd / 5	Teachable
Infinity and Beyond! 58	June 11th, 2015	7th	—	—
CEO 2014	June 27th-29th, 2014	9th / 255	5th / 34	MVD
Tipped Off 10	September 20th-21st, 2014	5th / 100	2nd / 18	MVD
Frame Perfect Series	November 21st, 2015	4th / 29	—	—
Shots Fired 2	March 5th-6th, 2016	9th / 109	5th / 28	Strong Bad
Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 7/6	July 6th, 2016	1st / 29	—	—
Smash 'N' Splash 3	June 2nd-4th, 2017	97th (DQ) / 319	17th / 76	MVD
Smashadelphia 2017	June 23rd-25th, 2017	17th / 100	9th / 18	Pixel

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Smash Carolina V	October 4th, 2014	1st / 51	—	—
Xanadu Smash 4 Invitational	November 6th, 2014	9th / 16	—	—

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Sky's Smash 4 Invitational	November 20th-22nd, 2014	2nd	1st	Nairo
Sm4sh @ Arcade Oddyssey 11-28-14	November 28th, 2014	1st	—	—
Sm4sh @ Arcade Oddyssey 12-26-14	December 26th, 2014	1st	—	—
Kumite in Tennessee 15	January 9th-11th, 2015	2nd	1st	Reflex
Final Battle	January 17th, 2015	5th	9th	MVD
Smash 4 Our Sins 2	March 21st, 2015	1st	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 5/7/15	May 7th, 2015	1st	—	—
2015 Versus EVO Qualifier	May 16th, 2015	1st	13th	PRETTYWING
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 5/21/15	May 21st, 2015	2nd	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 5/28/15	May 28th, 2015	1st	—	—
Tampa Never Sleeps	May 31st, 2015	1st	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 6/4/15	June 4th, 2015	2nd	—	—
Shockwave 33	June 10th, 2015	1st	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 6/18/15	June 18th, 2015	2nd	—	—
CEO 2015	June 26th-28th, 2015	5th	5th	MVD
EVO 2015	July 17th-19th, 2015	7th	17th	MVD
Super Smash Con 2015	August 6th-9th, 2015	2nd	3rd	MVD
Paragon Los Angeles 2015	September 5th-6th, 2015	13th	—	—
Smashfield Weekly #9	October 1st, 2015	2nd	—	—
The Big House 5	October 2nd-4th, 2015	9th	4th	MVD
MLG World Finals 2015	October 16th-18th, 2015	3rd	—	—
Tipped Off 11	November 7th-8th, 2015	2nd	2nd	MVD
Frame Perfect Series	November 21st, 2015	4th	2nd	MVD
Hot Import Nights Tournament #4	December 26th, 2015	1st	—	—
2GGT: ESAM Saga	January 9th, 2016	5th	2nd	ZeRo
GENESIS 3	January 15th-17th, 2016	13th	17th	MVD
PAX Arena	January 29th-31st, 2016	7th	5th	MVD
TGC 6	February 6th, 2016	Top 8	3rd	MVD
B.E.A.S.T 6	February 19th-21st, 2016	3rd	1st	MVD
Shots Fired 2	March 5th-6th, 2016	13th	4th	MVD
Salt in the City 3	March 12th, 2016	1st	4th	Starlord
Tiger Smash 4	March 26th-27th, 2016	1st	1st	Romano_Loxley
Pound 2016	April 2nd-3rd, 2016	9th	4th	MVD
TGC 7	April 9th, 2016	5th	2nd	MVD
Paradigm Shift	May 21st-22nd, 2016	1st	1st	NickRiddle
Combo Breaker 2016	May 27th-29th, 2016	1st	1st	MVD
Midwest Mayhem 3	June 4th, 2016	4th	1st	MVD
Low Tier City 4	June 18th-19th, 2016	5th	3rd	MVD
CEO 2016	June 24th-26th, 2016	17th	13th	MVD
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesdays 7/5	July 5th, 2016	1st	—	—
EVO 2016	July 15th-17th, 2016	25th	—	—
Trail Gaming League 8	August 6th, 2016	1st	—	—
Super Smash Con 2016	August 11th-14th, 2016	33rd	17th	MVD
VSGC Weekly 8/18	August 18th, 2016	4th	—	—
Shine 2016	August 26th-28th, 2016	2nd	2nd	ZeRo
Trail Gaming League 9	September 10th, 2016	1st	1st	MVD
The Big House 6	October 7th-9th, 2016	33rd	7th	MVD
Trail Gaming League 10	October 15th, 2016	3rd	1st	MVD
Gamers Fight Cancer	October 22nd-23rd, 2016	3rd	2nd	MVD
Ignition #55	November 2nd, 2016	1st	—	—
Poplar Creek Bowl Weekly #72	November 3rd, 2016	1st	1st	MVD
Midwest Mayhem 5	November 5th, 2016	3rd	1st	MVD
Smash the Record 2016	November 11th-14th, 2016	1st	2nd	MVD
Kings of the North V	November 19th-20th, 2016	1st	1st	JJROCKETS
UGC Smash Open	December 2nd-4th, 2016	3rd	7th	MVD
Don't Park on the Grass	December 17th-18th, 2016	9th	1st	MVD
VSGC Weekly 12/22	December 22nd, 2016	1st	—	—
VSGC Weekly 12/29	December 29th, 2016	1st	—	—
Smash Conference LXIX	January 7th, 2017	3rd	3rd	MVD
2GGC: GENESIS Saga	January 14th, 2017	25th	2nd	MVD
Mega Smash Mondays 81	January 16th, 2017	4th	—	—
GENESIS 4	January 20th-22nd, 2017	13th	7th	MVD
Niconico Tokaigi 2017	February 11th-12th, 2017	9th	—	—
VSGC Weekly 2/23	February 23rd, 2017	1st	—	—
Choctaw Festival of Gaming	March 3rd-5th, 2017	1st	???	???
PAX Arena at PAX East 2017	March 12th, 2017	4th	—	—
VSGC Weekly 3/16	March 16th, 2017	1st	—	—
Frame Perfect Series 2	March 18th-19th, 2017	9th	3rd	MVD
2GGC: Civil War	March 24th-26th, 2017	17th	7th	MVD
Dubai X VGBootcamp	March 31st-April 1st, 2017	1st	1st	MVD
VSGC Weekly 4/6	April 6th, 2017	1st	—	—
CEO Dreamland	April 14th-16th, 2017	5th	7th	MVD
DreamHack Austin 2017	April 28th-30th, 2017	5th	3rd	MVD
TGL Monthly 15	May 6th-7th, 2017	1st	1st	MVD
Riot	May 20th, 2017	1st	1st	MVD
Backthrow Thursdays #12	May 25th, 2017	2nd	1st	MVD
Combo Breaker 2017	May 26th-28th, 2017	1st	1st	MVD
Smash 'N' Splash 3	June 2nd-4th, 2017	5th	3rd	MVD
TGL Monthly 16	June 10th, 2017	1st	1st	MuteAce
CEO 2017	June 16th-18th, 2017	17th	—	—
Smashadelphia 2017	June 23rd-25th, 2017	1st	1st	WaDi
UNLOCKED	July 1st, 2017	2nd	—	—
Divided	July 8th, 2017	2nd	—	—
EVO 2017	July 14th-16th, 2017	49th	—	—
DreamHack Atlanta 2017	July 21st-23rd, 2017	9th	5th	MVD
Low Tier City 5	August 5th-6th, 2017	4th	3rd	Mekos
Super Smash Con 2017	August 10th-13th, 2017	13th	7th	MVD
Shine 2017	August 25th-27th, 2017	13th	5th	MVD
DreamHack Montreal 2017	September 8th-10th, 2017	2nd	4th	MVD
Smash the Record 2017	September 14th-17th, 2017	2nd	—	—
GameTyrant Expo 2017	September 29th-October 1st, 2017	17th	7th	MVD
The Big House 7	October 6th-8th, 2017	25th	5th	MVD
DreamHack Denver 2017	October 20th-22nd, 2017	5th	1st	MVD
Too Hot to Handle	October 28th-29th, 2017	3rd	2nd	MVD
2GGC: MkLeo Saga	November 4th, 2017	17th	7th	MVD
Super FamiCon 2017	November 19th, 2017	2nd	5th	Mekos
GENESIS 5	January 19th-21st, 2018	7th	2nd	MVD
Toryumon Weekday Tournament x STUDIO SKY #18	January 24th, 2018	7th	—	—
EVO Japan 2018	January 26th-28th, 2018	13th	—	—
Frostbite 2018	February 9th-11th, 2018	65th (DQ)	9th	MVD
EGLX 2018	March 9th-11th, 2018	3rd	2nd	MVD
Courtyard Clash #1	March 26th, 2018	2nd	—	—
Courtyard Clash #2	April 9th, 2018	1st	—	—
Flatiron 3	April 21st, 2018	1st	1st	MVD
No Moore Johns 36	April 27th, 2018	1st	1st	MVD
No Moore Johns 38	May 11th, 2018	2nd	—	—
Get On My Level 2018	May 18th-20th, 2018	13th	4th	MVD
Combo Breaker 2018	May 25th-27th, 2018	3rd	1st	MVD
DreamHack Austin 2018	June 1st-3rd, 2018	2nd	2nd	MVD
No Moore Johns 41	June 8th, 2018	1st	—	—
No Moore Johns 43	June 22nd, 2018	3rd	—	—
CEO 2018	June 29th-July 1st, 2018	33rd	5th	MVD
No Moore Johns 46	July 13th, 2018	1st	—	—
No Moore Johns 47	July 20th, 2018	2nd	1st	MVD
Low Tier City 6	July 27th-29th, 2018	3rd	3rd	MVD
EVO 2018	August 3rd-5th, 2018	13th	—	—
Super Smash Con 2018	August 9th-12th, 2018	33rd	7th	MVD
Sooner Smash Dojo #72	August 31st, 2018	2nd	1st	MVD
DreamHack Montreal 2018	September 7th-9th, 2018	4th	5th	MVD
Sooner Smash Dojo #75	September 28th, 2018	1st	—	—
The Big House 8	October 5th-7th, 2018	2nd	5th	MVD
Sooner Smash Dojo #77	October 12th, 2018	2nd	—	—
DreamHack Atlanta 2018	November 16th-18th, 2018	5th	3rd	Fatality

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Tournament	Date	1v1 Placement	2v2 Placement	Partner
Don't Park on the Grass 2018	December 15th-16th, 2018	2nd	1st	MVD
Resurgence 3	December 26th, 2018	1st	—	—
The Grind Fridays 60	January 18th, 2019	1st	2nd	MVD
Glitch 6	January 20th, 2019	13th	3rd	MVD
GENESIS 6	February 1st-3rd, 2019	7th	3rd	MVD
Ultimate Shockwave 11	February 20th, 2019	2nd	1st	MVD
Frostbite 2019	February 22nd-24th, 2019	65th	2nd	MVD
Ultimate Nimbus	March 3rd, 2019	2nd	—	—
Mega Smash Mondays 179	March 3rd, 2019	1st	—	—
Full Bloom 5	March 23rd-24th, 2019	4th	2nd	MVD
Battle of BC 3	March 30-31st, 2019	1st	2nd	Captain L
2GG: Prime Saga	April 13th-14th, 2019	33rd	17th	VoiD
Pound 2019	April 19th-21st, 2019	25th	7th	MVD
Goodwill of Orange County's Charity Invitational	April 27th-28th, 2019	5th	—	—
Thunder Smash	May 5th, 2019	5th	—	—
Get On My Level 2019	May 17th-19th, 2019	3rd	3rd	MVD
Combo Breaker 2019	May 24th-26th, 2019	5th	1st	MVD
DreamHack Dallas 2019	May 31st-June 2nd, 2019	3rd	1st	MVD
CEO 2019	June 28th-30th, 2019	9th	—	—
Low Tier City 7	July 12th-14th, 2019	17th	4th	MVD
EVO 2019	August 2nd-4th, 2019	25th	—	—
Super Smash Con 2019	August 8th-11th, 2019	9th	4th	MVD
Shine 2019	August 23rd-25th, 2019	9th	9th	MVD
DreamHack Montreal 2019	September 6th-8th, 2019	2nd	1st	Marss
The Grind 92	September 13th, 2019	2nd	—	—
Glitch 7 - Minus World	September 14-15th, 2019	1st	3rd	MVD
The Big House 9	October 4th-6th, 2019	13th	33rd	MVD
Thunder Smash Thursday! #20	October 10th, 2019	3rd	—	—
Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas	October 12th-13th, 2019	9th	—	—
Rising Stars at EGLX 2019	October 18th-20th, 2019	1st	1st	tamim
Smash Ultimate Summit 2	October 24th-27th, 2019	5th	—	—
DreamHack Atlanta 2019	November 15th-17th, 2019	9th	5th	MVD
Mango's Birthday Bash	December 7th-8th, 2019	1st	2nd	Plup
The Grind 110	January 17th, 2020	9th	—	—
Glitch 8 - Missingno	January 18th-19th, 2020	3rd	1st	MVD
GENESIS 7	January 24th-26th, 2020	4th	7th	MVD
Salt Water Smash 173	February 20th, 2020	1st	—	—
The Quarantine Series Opening Invitational	March 29th, 2020	17th	—	—
The Quarantine Series: Minor Tournament 1	April 18th-19th, 2020	9th	—	—
BUK CAKES INVITATIONAL 1	April 30th, 2020	3rd	—	—
The Quarantine Series: Major Tournament 1	May 2nd, 2020	9th	—	—
The Box	May 8th-10th, 2020	4th	—	—
King of WiFi Random Characters	May 30th, 2020	33rd	—	—
Fight For Rights: An East Coast Edition Charity Event	June 14th, 2020	4th	—	—
Get On My Line 2020	July 25th-26th, 2020	7th	—	—
Maister's RNG Invitational	September 25th, 2020	4th	—	—
GOML North American Open: Southeast USA	September 26th-27th, 2020	1st	—	—
GOML North American Open: Finale	November 7th, 2020	5th	—	—
Gaming For Tots	December 12th, 2020	25th	—	—
The Host Up Invitational 2	February 27th, 2021	5th	—	—
Return to Subspace: ONLINE	April 10th, 2021	1st	—	—
CUP Smash’s Charity Tournament	April 17th, 2021	9th	—	—
Proving Grounds Invitational	April 22nd, 2021	5th	—	—
Collision Online 2021	April 24th, 2021	7th	—	—
King 2021	May 2nd, 2021	2nd	—	—
SWT: NA Southeast Ultimate Online Qualifier	May 15th-16th, 2021	2nd	—	—
Pandemic Anniversary Series: Finale	May 29th, 2021	7th	—	—
The Grind 156	September 24th, 2021	3rd	—	—
Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code	September 24th-26th, 2021	1st	4th	Zomba
Super Smash Con: Fall Fest	October 15th-17th, 2021	17th	—	—
SWT: NA East Ultimate Regional Finals	November 6th-7th, 2021	7th	—	—
Mainstage 2021	November 12th-14th, 2021	13th	1st	MVD
CEO 2021	December 3rd-5th, 2021	7th	—	—
GENESIS 8	April 15th-17th, 2022	25th	3rd	MVD
Combo Breaker 2022	May 27th-29th, 2022	9th	—	—
Battle of BC 4	June 10th-12th, 2022	9th	1st	MVD
Panda Cup Online Qualifier: Southeast USA 2	August 4th, 2022	1st	—	—
Shine 2022	August 26th-28th, 2022	7th	5th	yonni
Lost Tech City 2022	September 30th-October 2nd, 2022	9th	—	—
The Big House 10	October 7th-9th, 2022	17th	—	—
DreamHack Atlanta 2022	November 18th-20th, 2022	13th	4th	MVD
GENESIS 9	January 20th-22nd, 2023	65th	7th	MVD
Collision 2023	March 10th-12th, 2023	33rd	9th	MVD
MAJOR UPSET	April 1st-2nd, 2023	33rd	7th	FireThePyro
Combo Breaker 2023	May 26th-28th, 2023	5th	1st	MVD
CEO 2023	June 23rd-25th, 2023	7th / 513	—	—
Super Smash Con 2023	August 10th-13th, 2023	33rd / 2,607	9th / 567	MVD
Santa Paws	December 8th-10th, 2023	13th / 181	2nd / 24	ShinyMark
GENESIS X	February 16th-18th, 2024	65th / 1,506	7th / 302	MVD
Cirque Du CFL 3	March 9th-10th, 2024	13th / 225	4th / 49	MVD
Supernova 2024	August 8th-11th, 2024	65th / 2,281	17th / 497	MVD
The Coinbox 118 - Coinbox IRL Qualifier	November 13th, 2024	2nd / 640	—	—
Coinbox IRL 2	December 7th-8th, 2024	9th / 16	—	—

Controversy

Hypocrisy allegations

ESAM has made several statements in the past deemed hypocritical by numerous members of the Smash community. On July 16th, 2020, Technicals would make a video about ESAM describing some of these instances [1].

Throughout the years 2012 to 2014, ESAM would say multiple racial slurs on websites such as Smashboards and on NAKAT's stream [2]. One of the comments, "go boxing ring", has since become a meme in the community. Since then, however, ESAM has harassed multiple people for doing similar acts. This includes Bocchi, who was 15 when she said slurs, whereas ESAM was 22. ESAM also notably called for people to harass Kiyarash over a screenshot of someone using his username to say multiple slurs. In the past, he had done the same thing to FOW and MJG when false allegations were made about them. After the Kiyarash incident, ESAM then made a tweet criticizing other Smash players for "supporting cancel culture" and for trying to actively harm someone's image despite his previous actions [3].

ESAM would eventually make a video called "Accountability" apologizing for his actions [4]. He would also make a Twitter thread where he would apologize to MJG and FOW for promoting the false claims made about them. This section, in particular, was criticized heavily as ESAM also mentioned that he will keep believing every victim who makes a story [5].

On November 17th, 2020, ESAM would reply to Epic_Gabriel, sending an extremely vulgar Tweet in response to him winning an offline local during a pandemic. [6] After Tweeting this, he received a huge amount of backlash for "being too harsh" on Gabe and for not saying anything when his brother NickRiddle was also attending locals during the pandemic.

Libel allegations

On August 14th, 2011, ESAM would come out against Mew2King claiming that he should be banned while spreading rumors about him masturbating to hentai on random people's beds [7]. Mew2King would later confirm that ESAM's allegations were false due to health conditions which made it impossible for him to perform said actions [8].

On July 2nd, 2020, amidst a wave of sexual harassment allegations in the community and while D1 was under scrutiny for his conduct with KTDominate, ESAM posted his side of the story, where he talked about how he had denounced D1's actions and refused to forgive him until KTDominate did, which took place years after the incident. In July 2021, however, D1 released a statement via Medium, as well as a video version on YouTube, to address the allegations against him, this time with more context and evidence for his side of the story. One of the screenshots provided was a conversation with ESAM in 2017, where ESAM conceded that he knew D1 didn't have any malicious intention, contradicting what ESAM had said a year prior.

Trivia

• ESAM is NickRiddle's younger brother.
• In ESAM's YouTube video "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Why Samus?", he explains that his tag comes from a combination of his name "Eric" and "Samus" since Samus was the first character he mained in Melee and is one of his favorite video game characters. When ESAM was around the age of 5, he used to bond with his father by watching him play Super Metroid, which birthed his love for both the Metroid series and Samus.
• ESAM is also a top Divekick player, and he won the Divekick event at CEO 2014.
• ESAM is the subject of a number of memes within the Smash community in reference to his bald head; he has sometimes gone by the alias "Mr. Clean", and it is common for spectators in tournament streams to point out his presence by merely mentioning that "ESAM is bald".
• Due to his attitude and tendency to immerse himself in drama, ESAM is seen as a controversial figure in the Smash community. He is well noted for starting confrontations with other players in social media, and for having questionable or unpopular opinions, particularly his insistence on Pikachu being one of the best characters in Smash 4. The latter point has also started a meme in the Smash community as "#ESAMOpinions", being used to refer to any stance that is not widely shared.
  • Ironically enough, he sometimes uses said hashtag to denote how his opinion might not be widely shared in its entirety.
  • He also has a noted tendency to have his opinions be reversed on him, especially in regards to his opinions on characters.
• ESAM is the most prominent user of the Bidou control scheme in Smash 4; however, since he does not use Bidou for any character other than Pikachu, this sometimes causes him to have multiple control schemes in tournament, especially when controlling other characters such as Samus.
• ESAM is a member of a YouTube channel called Games Over Easy, where he plays games alongside fellow smash professional MVD. As of December 2018, the channel has not uploaded any videos since Ultimate's release.
• On April 19th, 2019, ESAM infamously lost a $500 money match against Samsora at Pound 2019, with Samsora winning 10-1 and both competitors subsequently joking about the match together on Twitter.
  • In the singles bracket at the same tournament, he lost to MuteAce 1-2 in Winners and lost to LingLing 2-3 in Losers, meaning he lost 15 total games to Peach at one tournament.

External links

• Twitter account
• Twitch channel
• YouTube channel
• SmashBoards public profile
• SSBWorld profile
• Speedrun.com profile