| ESAM | |
|---|---|
| ESAMPG.png | |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Samus |
| Other Melee characters | Fox, Yoshi, Ice Climbers, Sheik, Pichu |
| Brawl mains | Pikachu, Ice Climbers |
| Other Brawl characters | Samus, Bowser |
| Smash 4 main | Pikachu |
| Other Smash 4 characters | Corrin, Samus, Mewtwo, Yoshi |
| 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  Panda Global SSB4 Rankings: 14th
|
| Winnings | ~$1,032.00 ~$10,403.25 ~$8,920.26 |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Eric Lew |
| Birth date | |
| Location | Miami, Florida 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill | Top professional Top professional (retired) Top professional  Top professional
|
ESAM is a player from Miami, Florida, 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 generally 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 Wobbles, Chillin, Westballz, Zhu, 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 was formerly 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 formerly ranked at the 0 position on the Carolina Brawl 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 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.
ESAM has recently become less consistent in Smash 4, placing notably worse at CEO 2016 (17th), EVO 2016 (25th) and Super Smash Con 2016 (33rd) than those tournaments' previous installments (5th, 7th and 2nd respectively). He did, however, make it to grand finals at Shine 2016, although he was still unable to defeat ZeRo.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAST 1 | July 17th-20th, 2008 | 33rd | 17th | Nick Riddle |
| Zero Ping Monthlies | August 15th 2009 | 3rd | — | — |
| 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 Con 2016 | August 11th-14th, 2016 | 65th | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doodah 3 | December 29th, 2007 | 4th | 7th | Phanna |
| 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 | — | — |
| Tipped Off 11 | November 7th-8th, 2015 | 5th | — | — |
| 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 | — | — |
| Tiger Smash 4 | March 26th-27th, 2016 | 2nd | 3rd | Starlord |
| TGC 7 | April 9th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| Smash Summit 2 | April 21st-24th, 2016 | 13th | 7th | Ice |
| DreamHack Austin 2016 | May 6th-8th, 2016 | 17th | — | — |
| Combo Breaker 2016 | May 27th-29th, 2016 | 4th | — | — |
| Low Tier City 4 | June 18th-19th, 2016 | 4th | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| CEO 2016 | June 24th-26th, 2016 | 65th | — | — |
| Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 7/6 | July 6th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| EVO 2016 | July 15th-17th | 513th | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2016 | August 11th-14th, 2016 | 13th | — | — |
| The Smash House | September 23rd-25th, 2016 | 5th | 4th | Flamin Roy |
| The Big House 6 | October 7th-9th, 2016 | — | 17th | Kage |
| Gamers Fight Cancer | October 22nd-23rd, 2016 | 2nd | 1st | Mojo |
| Smash the Record 2016 | November 11th-14th, 2016 | 65th | — | — |
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 |
| Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 7/6 | July 6th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
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 |
| 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 | Nick Riddle |
| 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 | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2016 | August 11th-14th, 2016 | 33rd | 17th | MVD |
| 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 | MVD |
Trivia
- ESAM is also a top professional Divekick player, and won Divekick at CEO 2014.
- ESAM sometimes goes by the alias 'Mr. Clean'.
- Due to many of ESAM's questionable or unpopular opinions, particularly his insistence on Pikachu being one of the best characters in the game, "#ESAMOpinions" has become memetic in the Smash community, being used to refer to any stance that is not widely shared. [1]