| aMSa | |
|---|---|
| AMSa.jpg | |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Yoshi |
| Project M main | Yoshi |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Chikamoto Masaya |
| 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 debut was at EVO 2013, where he shockingly aMSa managed to sweep through his pool without losing a set and made it to quarterfinals, while the only other notable Yoshi main at the venue, V3ctorman, failed to even make it out. He managed to take a game off of Mew2King in quarterfinals, to the shock of many spectators. Although Mew2King still ended up defeating aMSa 2-1, all of their matches were extremely close, going down to the last stock. In losers', aMSa defeated many opponents, 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 find difficult to do.
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 Chu Dat. Some claimed that aMSa would not even make it out of pools and would be exposed as a "fraud" who only got 25th because of an "easy" pool at EVO. Defying all expectations, aMSa tore through winners' bracket in both rounds of pools, and caused enormous upsets 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. 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.
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.
Notable tournament placings
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVO 2013 | July 12-14, 2013 | 25th | -- | Sheik |
| Apex 2014 | January 17-19, 2013 | 9th | -- | V3ctorman |