Smasher:ESAM

ESAM
ESAMPG.png
Character info
Melee main	Samus
Other Melee character	Fox
Brawl mains	Pikachu, Ice Climbers
Other Brawl characters	Samus, Bowser
Smash 4 main	Pikachu
Other Smash 4 character	Samus
Project M main	Samus
Other Project M characters	Pikachu, Donkey Kong
Team info
Crew(s)	Panda Global Gaming
Former crews	CLASH Tournaments, FBC, vVv Gaming
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking	2015 SSBMRank: 81st 2014 SSBBRank: 6th
Winnings	~$10,403.25 ~$7,347.53
Personal and other info
Real name	Eric Lew
Birth date	November 17, 1992
Location	Clemson, South Carolina
Miscellaneous info
Skill	Top professional Top professional Top professional Top professional

ESAM is a player from Miami, Florida who is currently residing in Clemson, South Carolina, and is considered one of the best Brawl and Smash 4 players in the United States, the best Pikachu player in both games and one of the best Ice Climbers players in Brawl. He is also known for occasionally using Samus in Smash 4 tournaments and doing well with her; at CEO 2015, he took a game off of Larry Lurr's Luigi. He is Nick Riddle's younger brother. He is a member of the Brawl Back Room, a former member of the Unity Ruleset Committee, and used to host the Zero Ping monthly series (located in Hollywood, Florida). ESAM also frequently commentates on the live streams at tournaments. He teams with MVD in Brawl, Project M, and Smash 4 tournaments, and the two have achieved some strong results in doubles events, such as 2nd at WHOBO 4 in Brawl doubles, 4th at SKTAR 3 Project M doubles, and 3rd at Super Smash Con Smash 4 doubles. Despite being more well known as a top professional Brawl and Smash 4 player, ESAM is also a notable Melee Samus player. While he does not place as well in Melee as he does in Brawl or Smash 4, he is able to hold his own against top professional players, having defeated renowned Melee players such as Chillin and Javi in tournament. ESAM is also one of the best Project M Samus players (along with Plup), and has defeated players such as Armada, Zhime, and iPunchKidsz in tournaments. ESAM is currently ranked 4th on the South Florida Melee Power Rankings and was formerly ranked at the 0 position on the South Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings. He is also currently ranked at the 0 position on the Florida Brawl Power Rankings, was ranked at the 0 position on the North Carolina Melee Power Rankings, was formerly ranked 2nd on the North Carolina Melee Power Rankings, and was voted 93rd best Melee player in the world by panelists on the 2013 2013 SSBM Player Rankings. He was ranked 100th in the 2014 edition of the MIOM SSBM Player Rankings. In the 2015 SSBMRank ESAM was ranked 81st worldwide.

Biography

Origin of the name

ESAM's gamertag comes from the first letter of his given name "Eric" (E), and the first three letters from his Melee and Project M main "Samus" (SAM).

Tournament history

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 Nick Riddle. Lastly, he placed 4th at MLG DC 2010, losing to Havok in winners' bracket, but defeating Nick Riddle, 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.

Present

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 Nick Riddle 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. In Smash 4 singles, he lost to ZeRo in a very close set in winners finals, 3-2. He would then defeat Nairo 3-1 in losers finals before losing his rematch with ZeRo 3-0 in grand finals, where he used Yoshi in Game 2.

He finished 3rd in Smash 4 singles at MLG World Finals 2015. In winners' bracket, he beat Nick Riddle 3-2 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.

ESAM placed 13th in GENESIS 3. In losers' bracket, he lost 3-2 to Nairo, who lost the first two games with Dr. Mario before winning three in a row with Zero Suit Samus.

At B.E.A.S.T 6, he finished 3rd in Smash 4 singles, losing to Mr. R 3-2 in winners finals and iStudying 3-2 in losers finals. He also placed 9th in Melee singles and teamed with MVD to win Smash 4 doubles.

Tournament placings

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
FAST 1	July 17th-20th, 2008	33rd	17th	Nick Riddle
MLG Orlando 2010	April 16th-18th, 2010	4th	13th	MVD
MLG Columbus 2010	June 4th-6th, 2010	8th	9th	MVD
MLG Raleigh 2010	August 27th-29th, 2010	9th	4th	MVD
MLG DC 2010	October 15th-17th, 2010	4th	5th	MVD
MLG Dallas 2010	November 5th-7th, 2010	3rd	4th	MVD
Pound V	February 19th-21st, 2011	4th	3rd	MVD
WHOBO 3	March 18th-20th, 2011	17th	9th	MVD
WHOBO 3 LT	March 18th-20th, 2011	7th	1st	Poltergust
GENESIS 2	July 15th-17th, 2011	9th	4th	MVD
Apex 2012	January 6th-8th, 2012	4th	13th	MVD
SKTAR	July 14th-15th, 2012	2nd	5th	Mekos
WHOBO 4	August 4th-5th, 2012	1st	2nd	MVD
WABA	November 10th, 2012	1st	5th	Mink
Apex 2013	January 11th-13th, 2013	13th	17th	MVD
SKTAR 2	August 3rd-4th, 2013	7th	17th	MVD
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	3rd	3rd	MVD
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/6	May 6th, 2014	2nd	—	—
NickRiddle & 8Bitman's May Brawl/PM Monthly	May 17th, 2014	3rd	—	—
SKTAR 3	May 31st-June 1st, 2014	3rd	3rd	MVD
Final Battle	January 17th, 2015	2nd (Split)	2nd (Split)	MVD
Apex 2015	January 30th-February 1st, 2015	129th	—	—
Super Smash Con	August 6th-9th, 2015	2nd	13th	MVD

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
FAST 1	July 17th-20th, 2008	13th	—	—
Apex 2013	January 11th-13th, 2013	33rd	—	—
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	49th	—	—
Smash Carolina 3	March 1st, 2014	1st	1st	Atlas
Shell Shocked XV	May 10th, 2014	4th	—	—
CEO 2014	June 27th-29th, 2014	—	4th	ZeRo
Tipped Off 10	September 20th-21st, 2014	13th	3rd	Axe
DIME 15	June 13th, 2015	2nd	—	—
Paragon Los Angeles 2015	September 5th-6th, 2015	17th	—	—
The Big House 5	October 2nd-4th, 2015	25th	—	—
Frame Perfect Series	November 21st, 2015	5th	—	—
GENESIS 3	January 15th-17th, 2016	65th	—	—
B.E.A.S.T 6	February 19th-21st, 2016	9th

Project M

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Smash @ Xanadu Monthly - 2/23	February 23rd, 2013	—	1st	PPMD
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	9th	—	—
Smash Carolina 3	March 1st, 2014	1st	1st	Atlas
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/6	May 6th, 2014	2nd	—	—
Shell Shocked XV	May 10th, 2014	1st	1st	Seagull Joe
NickRiddle & 8Bitman's May Brawl/PM Monthly	May 17th, 2014	1st	—	—
SKTAR 3	May 31st-June 1st, 2014	4th	4th	MVD
'No JEANS'	June 7th, 2014	1st	3rd	Teachable
Infinity and Beyond! 58	June 11th, 2015	7th	—	—
CEO 2014	June 27th-29th, 2014	9th	5th	MVD
Tipped Off 10	September 20th-21st, 2014	5th	2nd	MVD
Frame Perfect Series	November 21st, 2015	4th	—	—
Shots Fired 2	March 5th-6th, 2016	9th	5th	Strong Bad

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Xanadu Smash 4 Invitational	November 6th, 2014	9th	—	—

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 28, 2014	1st	—	—
Sm4sh @ Arcade Oddyssey 12-26-14	December 26, 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 21, 2015	1st	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 5/7/15	May 7, 2015	1st	—	—
2015 Versus EVO Qualifier	May 16th, 2015	1st	13th	PRETTYWING
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 5/21/15	May 21, 2015	2nd	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 5/28/15	May 28, 2015	1st	—	—
Tampa Never Sleeps	May 31, 2015	1st	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 6/4/15	June 4, 2015	2nd	—	—
Shockwave 33	June 10th, 2015	1st	—	—
Versus Smash 4 Weekly 6/18/15	June 18, 2015	2nd	—	—
CEO 2015	June 26th-28th, 2015	5th	5th	MVD
EVO 2015	July 17th-19th, 2015	7th	17th	MVD
Super Smash Con	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
Tiger Smash 4	March 26th-27th, 2016	1st	1st	Romano_Loxley
Pound 2016	April 2nd-3rd, 2016	9th	4th	MVD

Trivia

• ESAM is also a top professional Divekick player, and won Divekick at CEO 2014.
• ESAM sometimes goes by the alias 'Mr. Clean'.

External links

• SmashBoards public profile
• Twitter
• YouTube channel
• Twitch channel
• Interview with CyberSportsNetwork
• Interview with Daily Dot eSports
• Interview with Press Start TV ft. TSM ZeRo