Smasher:aMSa
| aMSa | |
|---|---|
| AMSa.jpg | |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Yoshi |
| Project M main | Lucario |
| Other Project M character | Yoshi |
| Team info | |
| Crew(s) | VGBootCamp |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Masaya Chikamoto |
| Location | Miyagi, Japan 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill |  Top professional  |
aMSa is a Yoshi player from Japan. He is a relatively new player in the scene, beginning to smash competitively in February 2013, but has played the game casually since its release, using Yoshi from the very beginning. He quickly gained notoriety for his ability with such a low tiered character, having a large amount of technical skill and being able to fully utilize and mix-up all of Yoshi's options, including many of his "situational" special moves, backed up by a fantastic comboing and parrying ability. Despite only having played seriously for a short amount of time compared to other professionals, he quickly became considered the best Yoshi main in the world by many notable players after his first international appearance at EVO 2013, and maintained this title through Apex 2014.
aMSa's first international tournament was at EVO 2013, where he shockingly managed to sweep through his pool without losing a set and made it to quarterfinals, taking off sets from Flow and Codi, while the other notable Yoshi main at the tournament, V3ctorman, failed to make it out. In quarterfinals, he managed to take a game off of Mew2King to the shock of many spectators, although Mew2King still ended up defeating aMSa 2-1. In losers', aMSa defeated another notable smasher in Mr. F, achieving a final placement of 25th after losing to DaShizWiz. He later played many other top players in friendlies, including Armada, Axe, and Hungrybox, managing to hold his own in each one (most of his matches went to the last stock); perhaps his most notable moment in these matches was when he 4-stocked SilentSpectre, which many other professionals have never achieved, in or out of tournament brackets. aMSa's placement split the community's opinions on him, with some claiming that he could place in the top 16 at the next major international and others arguing that he only reached 25th through a comparatively "easy" bracket, with Mr. F being the only smasher worth mentioning who he took out.
aMSa returned to the United States to compete in Apex 2014, and he entered Melee singles at Apex 2014 with much skepticism surrounding his ability to repeat or surpass his placement from EVO, especially since he was in a pool with notable players such as Green Ranger, KevinM, and ChuDat. Defying all expectations again, aMSa tore through winners' bracket in the first round of pools on the first day, beating Green Ranger and ChuDat for the winner's position, and defeated Kage in a best-of-5 exhibition match, then caused more enormous upsets the next day by defeating Silent Wolf and Fly Amanita. He was then defeated by Dr. PeePee in winners' finals and Colbol in losers' finals of the second round of pools, placing 9th in the second largest Melee tournament to date; by then, aMSa had gained an enormous amount of support and fan recognition for reaching an unprecedented high level of play and placement with Yoshi against all odds in brackets filled with top players. After the tournament, he once again fought many other professionals in various exhibition matches, managing to take a game off of Tafokints, win a best of 3 set against MattDotZeb, and win best of 5 sets against SFAT, Vish, and Westballz. He also defeated many of a drunken Mew2King's plethora of sandbagging characters.
aMSa travelled to France in May 2014 to attend Republic of Fighters 3, the 5000 point MLG Anaheim 2014 qualifier. At this tournament, he made it out of pools and defeated players such as porc, Trif, and Zgetto in winners' bracket before being knocked into losers by Armada. He then defeated Overtriforce 3-1 in losers' quarters, and knocked out Ice 3-0 in losers' semis (with a 3-stock lead at the end of game 1), before losing to Leffen 2-3 in an incredibly close set in losers' finals that went down to the last stock, to take 3rd place overall in the singles portion of the tournament. Placing 3rd at this tournament allowed him to gather enough points to qualify for the MLG Anaheim 2014 championship bracket. He also teamed with Cyr in doubles and placed 7th.
At MLG Anaheim 2014, aMSa didn't do well in his pool, only defeating PewPewU. However, he brought Fiction, Westballz, and ZeRo to game 5, and managed to take a game off of Mango, but this was not enough for him to be seeded any higher than losers' round 1 in the championship bracket. In the championship bracket, he eventually lost to S2J 2-3, placing 17th overall at the tournament.
aMSa also attended CEO 2014, but did not make it out of his bracket pool, losing to PorkChops 2-3 in winners' finals and Wenbo 1-3 in losers' finals of the pool. This means he placed 33rd in Melee singles at the tournament. He also placed 9th in Melee doubles with PSpirit, as well as 9th in Project M singles, and 7th in Project M doubles with DJ Nintendo.
aMSa made his next appearance at Kings of Cali 4, where he defeated both MacD and Scar 2-0 in the second round of pools, and reached the top 32 bracket, where he faced Mew2King in winners' quarters. In a shock upset, after losing the first game, aMSa was able to win the set 3-1. He then lost to Mango 0-3 in winners' semis, and to Lucky 0-3 in losers' quarters, meaning aMSa placed 5th overall in singles. In doubles, he placed 7th with PSpirit, losing to Westballz and ZeRo 1-3 in losers' top 8.
aMSa maintains a YouTube channel where he posts discoveries about not only new innovations in Yoshi's metagame, but also of notable exploits or interesting maneuvers that he finds. He also uses his channel to upload videos of tournament matches and friendlies; a fair portion of his channel is an emporium of EVO 2013 friendlies with mostly Japanese Melee players (such as Kounotori, Sheik, or himself) facing off against notable European and American players.
aMSa was the only Japanese player (and one of only two non-Americans) to participate in the Super Smash Bros. Invitational at E3 2014. Even with Yoshi unavailable for selection, he reached the final using Olimar and was eliminated by popular vote in favor of ZeRo to take 3rd place.
Notable tournament placings
Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 25th | — | Sheik |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 9th | 65th | V3ctorman |
| Sumabato DX Melee 11 | May 4th, 2014 | 13th | — | — |
| KVO 2014 | May 5th, 2014 | 2nd | — | — |
| Republic of Fighters 3 | May 17th-18th 2014 | 3rd | 7th | Cyr |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 17th | 25th | Pspirit |
| CEO 2014 | June 27th-29th, 2014 | 33rd | 9th | Pspirit |
| Kings of Cali 4 | July 5th-6th, 2014 | 5th | 7th | Pspirit |
Project M
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 65th | — | — |
| NINJA4 | 2nd | — | — | |
| Republic of Fighters 3 | May 17th-18th, 2014 | 2nd | — | — |
| CEO 2014 | June 27th-29th, 2014 | 9th | 7th | DJ Nintendo |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Smash Bros. Invitational | June 10th, 2014 | 3rd | — | — |
Trivia
- In the Apex 2014 "Salty Suite", aMSa faced off against DJ Nintendo's Bowser in the "Battle of the Dinos," and ended up defeating him 3-0. When asked to give a statement before the match, aMSa replied "I play to win," repeating said statement after he won. This phrase, commonly deliberately misconstrued as "I pray to win," has quickly become associated with aMSa, with many of his fans "hashtagging" the statement on social media when discussing his gameplay.
- At Republic of Fighters 3, aMSa played throughout most of the tournament using the tag "IPTW", referencing this phrase.
- aMSa is the only non-American member of VGBootCamp.
Gameplay videos
- The Red Essence - A Yoshi tech skill video by aMSa
- Fly Amanita (Ice Climbers) vs. aMSa (Yoshi)
- Apex 2014 - aMSa vs GC Silent Wolf - SSBM
- Overtriforce vs. VGBC.aMSa (Yoshi) - Losers Q.F.
- KoC 4 - VGBC | aMSa (Yoshi) Vs. P4K EMP | Mew2King (Sheik, Fox) SSBM Winners Quarters - Melee
