| Salem | |
|---|---|
| Salem2016.jpeg | |
| Character info | |
| Brawl main | Zero Suit Samus |
| Other Brawl characters | Snake, Marth |
| Smash 4 main | Bayonetta |
| Other Smash 4 characters | Greninja, Zero Suit Samus, Samus, Lucina, Marth, Villager, Sheik, Robin, Ryu |
| Project M main | Zelda |
| Other Project M character | Zero Suit Samus |
| Team info | |
| Sponsor(s) | Team Liquid, Most Valuable Gaming |
| Former sponsor(s) | CLASH Tournaments |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  2016-2017 SSBBRank: 3rd  Panda Global Rankings v4: 2nd (X-Factor: 0) |
| Winnings | ~$3,749.00 ~$14,298.63 |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Saleem Akiel Young |
| Birth date | |
| Location | Orlando, Florida 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill | Top professional Top professional  Top professional
|
Salem is an SSB4 Bayonetta player with strong Greninja and Samus secondaries from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who is currently residing in Orlando, Florida, and is widely considered the best Bayonetta player in the world. Salem is currently ranked 2nd on the Panda Global Rankings v4. He was formerly ranked 2nd on the Central Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings and 3rd on the New Jersey Power Rankings. Salem has taken sets off of top players such as ZeRo, Nairo, MkLeo, Tweek, Dabuz, Larry Lurr, KEN, VoiD, Mr.R, and Elegant. He is considered to be one of the best Smash 4 players in the world.
His static partner in doubles is Ryuga and they are considered to be one of the best doubles teams in the world. The two have achieved strong results together, such as 3rd at UGC Smash Open, 4th at Super Smash Con 2017, and 2nd at both Frostbite 2017 and DreamHack Atlanta 2017. They have taken sets off of teams such as ZeRo and Nairo, VoiD and NAKAT, ESAM and MVD, and Abadango and Kameme.
In SSBB, Salem is a Zero Suit Samus player, and is widely considered the best Zero Suit Samus player in the world. Salem is currently ranked 3rd on the 2016-2017 SSBBRank. He was ranked 6th on the final Tristate Brawl Power Rankings.
He is the first player to double eliminate ZeRo in a set outside of Grand Finals, doing so at Collision XIV. He is also one of two players to double-eliminate ZeRo in more than one tournament, achieving this again in grand finals of EVO 2017.
On October 8th, 2016, Salem was signed by Most Valuable Gaming.[1]
As of February 9th 2018, Salem was signed on by Team Liquid.[2]
Tournament history
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Before playing in the offline scene, he gained fame on the All is Brawl ladder as an incredible Wi-Fi player, dominating the ladder with Zero Suit Samus. He made his offline debut at Concentrate II, placing 5th, where he defeated Nicole, Jbandrew, Will, and Kingtoon. He later attended Apex 2012; while only placing 33rd, he defeated Nick Riddle in bracket, then considered to be the best Zero Suit Samus player in the USA.
Throughout 2012, Salem continued to enter tournaments and place well in stacked tournaments within the NY/NJ region, but it wasn't until a dominating performance at Apex 2013 that he had a standout performance at a major, where he unexpectedly took the tournament. On his path to victory, he defeated top players such as mikeHAZE, Mr. R, Otori, the Apex 2012 champion, Dojo, Mikeneko, and Mew2King in both Winners' and Grand Finals, the latter of which is considered to be one of the most intense sets witnessed in Brawl tournament play. In Grand Finals, the set went to a last game, last hit situation, before Salem won following an extensive war of attrition. His win stunned the community; not only had he won one of the most prestigious Brawl tournaments at the time with a character not considered top tier, but he had also never won a tournament prior to then.
At Apex 2014, Salem advanced through his pool, defeating Mekos. He then defeated V115, before losing to ESAM in Winners'. He proceeded to defeat Pwii and Koolaid, before losing to ADHD in a close set, placing 9th overall, outplacing Nick Riddle once again.
Project M
Salem dabbled with Project M, maining Zelda. At Apex 2014 he advanced to bracket, but lost to Eli right away. He then beat Vectorman before falling to Atomsk placing 33rd. At SKTAR 3 he made a long Losers run beating Ringworm, NinjaLink, Wes, Internet Explorer, MVD, Porkchops, and Larry Lurr, before losing to ZeRo to place 13th.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
At the onset of SSB4's release, Salem initially co-mained Sheik and Zero Suit Samus. His first major tournament was Apex 2015, but he drastically underperformed, failing to advance from Pools following being DQed in Winners and losing to falln in Losers Finals of his Pool. Reversing that poor performance later, he placed 9th place at KTAR XII. At EVO 2015 he made it to Top 32 Losers before losing to Tyrant, placing 25th. He'd place decently at smaller tournaments, placing 7th at SKTAR 4, 2nd at KTAR XVII, 9th at Shots Fired 2, and 5th at Do or DI and KTAR XVIII. Upon Bayonetta's release in February 2016, Salem switched to maining her.
Salem would finally have his breakout performance in SSB4 when he won Collision XIV, double-eliminating ZeRo in close sets in Winners Quarters and Losers Semis, Nairo in Losers Finals, and defeating Tweek in Grand Finals. He then attended Smashadelphia II, where he defeated Sinji, Mr.E, and 6WX convincingly to take the tournament. He then traveled to compete at Smash Conference LXVII, dominantly defeating dyr, Fatality, and Mew2King. In Grand Finals Mew2King would reset the bracket, but Salem won the following set.
Before The Big House 6, Salem entered Little Big House 2, where he defeated Darkshad and Shogun to advance into bracket. In bracket, he defeated Kameme, 6WX, Dath, and Abadango in Grand Finals to win the tournament, thought to be a precursor for his performance at The Big House 6. At The Big House 6, he defeated MJG and Rich Brown to advance into Top 32. In Top 32 he fell to Dabuz in Winners. In Losers he defeated Kameme in the run-back before falling to Nairo, placing at a slightly underwhelming 9th.
At Smash Conference LXVIII, Salem fell to Saj in Bayonetta dittos. He then made an extensive Losers run defeating Child, Rideae, LordMix, 8BitMan, Saj in a close rematch, and reset the bracket against Manny to win the tournament. Salem later returned to Michigan where he won Smashfield Weeklies 61, defeating Ryuga before falling to Ally in Winners Finals, defeating Ryuga again in Losers Finals, and defeating Ally in both sets of Grand Finals. Two days later, he attended Rebirth IX, where he defeated smasher1001 and LOE1, before falling to Zinoto in Winners Finals. He then defeated Rayquaza07 in Losers Finals, reset the bracket against Zinoto, but ultimately lost in a close second set, placing 2nd.
Salem would next enter Olympus, where he defeated 6WX to make Top 8. There, Salem defeated Larry Lurr, but then fell to Tweek in Winners Finals. In Losers Finals, Salem defeated Larry Lurr again, then dominantly took both sets of Grand Finals to take 1st. At KTAR XIX, he defeated Gomamugitya to make Top 48. In Top 48, he defeated False before losing to Tweek. In Losers, he defeated Zinoto, WaDi, Samsora, Nairo, and MKLeo before falling to ZeRo in a run-back in Grand Finals. At UGC Smash Open, Salem lost to ESAM, and entered Top 48 Losers. He then defeated Nero and Vinnie, before succumbing to Kameme, finishing at a disappointing 17th. To end the year, Salem entered 2GGT: ZeRo Saga, where he defeated Samsora to advance to Top 48. He was then defeated by Abadango and elimnated by Dabuz, falling at another 17th place.
Beginning 2017, Salem took Smash Conference LXIX, double eliminating Samsora in Winners Finals and Grand Finals. At GENESIS 4, Salem cruised through Winners, defeating 9B, before being upset by Elegant. In Losers, he defeated You3 before being eliminated by ZeRo, placing 25th.
At Frostbite 2017, Salem defeated Chrim Foish 2-0 and Rayquaza07 2-0 to make it out of pools. In bracket he defeated Komorikiri 3-2 and Shuton 3-1 before being upset by Tsu- 1-3 in winnners semis. In the losers bracket he was eliminated by Dabuz 0-3 and finished in 5th place.
At Frame Perfect Series 2, Salem defeated SuperGirlKels 2-0 to make it out of pools winners side. In bracket he was defeated by Ranai 0-3 and sent to losers. In losers he defeated Kome 3-0, Earth 3-1 and ESAM 3-2 before losing to Dabuz 1-3 and finishing in 7th place. One week later at 2GGC: Civil War Salem was upset by Shuton 0-3 in winners Top 96 and sent to losers. In losers he defeated Vinnie 3-0 before losing to Zinoto 0-3 and finishing at a disappointing 25th place.
At KTAR XX, Salem was defeated by Tweek 2-3 in winners quarters and dropped into losers. He then defeated Light 3-1, 6WX 3-0, and Nairo 3-1 in losers before once again falling to Tweek 2-3 and finishing in 4th place.
At CEO Dreamland, Salem defeated Sharpyzard and Wormynugget 2-0 to make it out of pools. In bracket he lost to Marss and ANTi 2-3 finishing in 17th place.
At 2GGC: Nairo Saga, Salem lost in an upset to JK in winners' semis of his pool. Following this, he went on one of the most extended losers runs in Smash 4 history. After beating TLTC 2-0 and Horse 3-1 to make it out of his pool on losers' side, he defeated quiK 3-1, Twi 3-0, Mr. R 3-1, Tweek 3-2, and KEN 3-0 to make it into Top 8 losers' side. Once there, he defeated Elegant 3-1, Ally 3-1 in losers' quarters, Nairo 3-0 in losers' semis, and MKLeo 3-2 in losers' final, before falling to ZeRo in Grand Finals 2-3. In the process of the run, Salem defeated three of the top four seeds of the tournament, and at 2nd place, achieved the highest ever placement of a Bayonetta main at a supernational tournament until EVO 2017 a month later.
At CEO 2017 , Salem lost 0-3 to Nairo in winners quarters, but defeated MVD 3-2 in losers to make top 8 and secure a match with MKLeo in losers top 8. Despite being up 2-1 against his opponent's main Cloud, MKLeo counterpicked Corrin against him, and won the next two games using her to defeat Salem 2-3 and eliminate him at 7th place.
In 2018, Salem got 3rd at GENESIS 5 after losing to MkLeo's Marth 0-3 and Mistake 0-3 in the Bayonetta ditto. At Frostbite 2018, he was sent into top 24 losers after being defeated by Fatality 3-2, Salem then defeated Captain Zack 3-2, Shoyo James 3-2, and Tyroy 3-0 putting him in the losers side of top 8. Salem then defeated komorikiri 3-0 and defeated Fatality 3-1 after he sent Salem into losers. Salem's losers run finally ended when he was defeated by Tweek 1-3 in the Bayonetta ditto allowing him to place 4th.
Salem would later go on to Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas where he ended up losing to Nairo and Fatality 2-3 earning him 9th place once again being outplaced by Tweek and Mistake. Due to Salem being outplaced by other Bayonetta mains at every smash major, some smashers are debating if Salem will regain his crown as the best Bayonetta in the world or if he will lose his title.
The rise
At EVO 2017, Salem lost to Larry Lurr in winners semis. Following this, he defeated KEN 2-0 in losers quarters, Tweek 2-1 in losers semis, and Larry Lurr 3-1 in losers finals to enter grand finals. Once there, he defeated ZeRo in two sets of grand finals (3-2 each) to win the largest tournament of the year, becoming the first Bayonetta to win a premier tournament. As a result, he is now considered the best Bayonetta player in the world, after briefly losing the title to CaptainZack during the beginning of the year.
At DreamHack Atlanta 2017, Salem won in his pool to make top 64 winners. He then defeated ANTi and Nairo both 3-0 to enter top 8 winners. He lost to Tweek 1-3 in winners semis. In losers, he defeated ANTi again 3-0, Nairo again 3-1 and Tweek 3-1 in a runback. In grand finals, he faced VoiD where he defeated him 3-2 and 3-1 to win his second S-tier tournament (according to the Panda Global Rankings) in a row.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collision V | September 1st, 2012 | 13th | — | — |
| Smash 'N' Chill Weekly #7 | February 28th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| EagleLAN 2017 | April 29th, 2017 | 2nd | 2nd | Waldo |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concentrate II | October 22nd, 2011 | 5th | 2nd | ANTi |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 33rd | 65th | Meekspeedy |
| Winter Shore Smashing | January 14th, 2012 | 2nd | — | — |
| Clash of the Titans 6 | June 2nd, 2012 | 5th | 5th | Bizkit |
| SKTAR | July 14th-15th, 2012 | 17th | — | — |
| Impact IV | August 25th, 2012 | 5th | 2nd | Chibo |
| Collision V | September 1st, 2012 | 5th | 3rd | Chibo |
| Phoenix Saga 5 | December 1st, 2012 | 7th | 5th | Meekspeedy |
| Apex 2013 | January 11th-13th, 2013 | 1st | — | — |
| Winter Brawl 7 | February 23rd-24th, 2013 | 2nd | — | — |
| Rescue 2 | March 2nd, 2013 | 3rd | — | — |
| Rescue 3 | July 27th, 2013 | 7th | 9th | Xzax |
| SKTAR 2 | August 3rd-4th, 2013 | 33rd | 7th | Vex Kasrani |
| Smashacre Gluttony | August 10th, 2013 | 3rd | 3rd | Xzax |
| Thanks for Playing 4 | December 21st, 2013 | 2nd | — | — |
| KTAR 8 | December 28th, 2013 | 17th | 3rd | ZeRo |
| Collision 8 | January 11th, 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | Vex Kasrani |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 9th | 9th | Vex Kasrani |
| SKTAR 3 | May 31st-June 1st, 2014 | 17th | — | — |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 4th | 2nd | Mew2King |
| Revival of Brawl | November 26th, 2016 | 1st | 2nd | Vincessant |
| CEO Dreamland | April 14th-16th, 2017 | 3rd | 1st | Mew2King |
| Super Smash Con 2017 | August 10th-13th, 2017 | 3rd | — | — |
Project M
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Brawl 7 | February 23rd-24th, 2013 | 2nd | — | — |
| Thanks for Playing 4 | December 21st, 2013 | 3rd | 1st | ZeRo |
| KTAR 8 | December 28th, 2013 | 5th | — | — |
| Collision 8 | January 11th, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 33rd | — | — |
| SKTAR 3 | May 31st-June 1st, 2014 | 13th | 13th | Xzax |
| Project Clash 14 | October 27th, 2016 | 17th | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky's Smash 4 Invitational | November 20th-22nd, 2014 | 9th | 5th | K9 |
| Collision X | November 29th, 2014 | 5th | 5th | Chibo |
| Collision XI | January 3rd, 2015 | 9th | 7th | Chibo |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 129th | — | — |
| Tri-Smash #3 | March 7th, 2015 | 1st | — | — |
| KTAR XII | March 21st, 2015 | 9th | 9th | Chibo |
| Smash Forward 03 | April 18th, 2015 | 2nd | 1st | Chibo |
| KTAR XIII | July 12th, 2015 | 17th | 17th | Waldo |
| EVO 2015 | July 17th-19th, 2015 | 25th | 33rd | Chibo |
| The MollyWhop #17 | August 12th, 2015 | 1st | — | — |
| SKTAR 4 | August 22nd-23rd, 2015 | 7th | — | — |
| Smash & Clash 02 | February 12th, 2016 | 1st | 1st | Chibo |
| KTAR XVII | February 13th, 2016 | 2nd | 3rd | Chibo |
| Smash & Clash 03 | February 19th, 2016 | 1st | 5th | Sparky |
| Brotherly Love X | February 20th, 2016 | 1st | 1st | Vex Kasrani |
| Shots Fired 2 | March 5th-6th, 2016 | 9th | 17th | Chibo |
| Do or DI | March 11th-13th, 2016 | 5th | — | — |
| Brotherly Love XIV | June 4th, 2016 | 1st | 2nd | Chibo |
| KTAR XVIII | June 11th, 2016 | 5th | — | — |
| EVO 2016 | July 15th-17th, 2016 | 33rd | — | — |
| Collision XIV | September 3rd, 2016 | 1st | 13th | Chibo |
| Smashadelphia II | September 11th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| Smash Conference LXVII | September 23rd, 2016 | 1st | 1st | Mew2King |
| Little Big House 2 | October 6th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| The Big House 6 | October 7th-9th, 2016 | 9th | — | — |
| Smash Conference LXVIII | October 14th, 2016 | 1st | 1st | Mew2King |
| Smashfield Weeklies #61 | October 20th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| Rebirth IX | October 22nd, 2016 | 2nd | 3rd | GenericallyNamed |
| Olympus | October 28th-30th, 2016 | 1st | 4th | Fatality |
| KTAR XIX | November 19th, 2016 | 2nd | 17th | Chibo |
| UGC Smash Open | December 2nd-4th, 2016 | 17th | 3rd | Ryuga |
| 2GGT: ZeRo Saga | December 16th-18th, 2016 | 17th | 3rd | 6WX |
| Smash Conference LXIX | January 7th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | 8BitMan |
| Coffee Boys 10 | January 15th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | WoundedDragon |
| GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd, 2017 | 25th | 3rd | ANTi |
| Frostbite 2017 | February 25th-26th, 2017 | 5th | 2nd | Ryuga |
| Smash N Chill Weekly #7 | February 28th, 2017 | 4th | — | — |
| Frame Perfect Series 2 | March 18th-19th, 2017 | 7th | 25th | WoundedDragon |
| 2GGC: Civil War | March 24th-26th, 2017 | 25th | 5th | Mew2King |
| KTAR XX | April 1st-2nd, 2017 | 4th | 5th | Salem's Friend |
| CEO Dreamland | April 14th-16th, 2017 | 17th | 7th | Mew2King |
| MomoCon 2017 | May 25th-28th, 2017 | 7th | 9th | Larry Lurr |
| Coffee Boys 15 | June 4th, 2017 | 1st | 3rd | WoundedDragon |
| 2GGC: Nairo Saga | June 10th-11th, 2017 | 2nd | 9th | Ally |
| Mega Smash Mondays 100 | June 12th, 2017 | 9th | — | — |
| CEO 2017 | June 16th-18th, 2017 | 7th | — | — |
| Subs Not Scrubs: Hackoru | June 21st, 2017 | 9th | — | — |
| Naifu Wars: World War 2 | June 23rd, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| UNLOCKED | July 1st, 2017 | 1st | 1st | Mew2King |
| Coffee Boys 16 | July 9th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | WoundedDragon |
| EVO 2017 | July 14th-16th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| DreamHack Atlanta 2017 | July 21st-23rd, 2017 | 1st | 2nd | Ryuga |
| Super Smash Con 2017 | August 10th-13th, 2017 | 7th | 4th | Ryuga |
| 2GGC: SCR Saga | August 19th- 20th, 2017 | 7th | 2nd | Mistake |
| Shine 2017 | August 25th-27th, 2017 | 4th | 9th | JK |
| PAX Arena at PAX West 2017 | September 1st-4th, 2017 | 3rd | — | — |
| GameTyrant Expo 2017 | September 29th-October 1st, 2017 | 9th | — | — |
| Little Big House 3 | October 5th, 2017 | 7th | — | — |
| The Big House 7 | October 6th-8th, 2017 | 5th | 7th | Ryuga |
| 2GGC: Fire Emblem Saga | October 14th-15th, 2017 | 1st | 3rd | Ryuga |
| DreamHack Denver 2017 | October 20th-22nd, 2017 | 2nd | — | — |
| Too Hot to Handle | October 28th-29th, 2017 | 5th | 17th | WoundedDragon |
| 2GGC: MkLeo Saga | November 4th, 2017 | 9th | 9th | Komorikiri |
| Tipped Off 12 | November 11th-12th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | Mew2King |
| Midwest Mayhem 10 | November 25th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | Tweek |
| 2GG Championship | December 1st-3rd, 2017 | 3rd | — | — |
| Smash 4 Boot Camp | December 7th-10th, 2017 | 1st | 5th | MVD |
| PAX Arena at PAX South 2018 | January 12th-14th, 2018 | 9th | — | — |
| GENESIS 5 | January 19th-21st, 2018 | 3rd | — | — |
| Frostbite 2018 | February 9th-11th, 2018 | 4th | — | — |
| Overlords of Orlando | March 18th, 2018 | 1st | — | — |
| Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas | March 24th-25th, 2018 | 9th | — | — |
Trivia
- Salem had never won any tournaments, locals included, prior to his Apex 2013 victory; a similar scenario occurred at Apex 2012, being the first tournament Otori ever won.
- For his victory in EVO 2017, the official twitter of PlatinumGames, the creator of the Bayonetta games, sent him congratulations for winning with Bayonetta.
- Salem was recognized by Forbes in their "30 Under 30 - Games" 2018 list, with his EVO 2017 performance being featured.[3]
- Hungrybox was similarly recognized for their "30 Under 30 - Games" 2017 list.