aMSa

aMSa
aMSa in 2023
Current team
TeamNone (Free Agent)
GameSuper Smash Bros. Melee
Personal information
NameMasaya Chikamoto
Born (1991-10-27) October 27, 1991 (age 32)
Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
Career highlights and awards
Twitch information
Channel
Followers53,800

Last updated: April 12, 2024

Masaya Chikamoto (Japanese: 近本 昌也, Hepburn: Chikamoto Masaya, born October 27, 1991), better known by his alias aMSa (あむさ, Amusa), is a Japanese professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. He is known for being the only top player to play Yoshi. In 2022, he was ranked the second best player in the world after winning major tournaments Apex and The Big House. Most recently, he was ranked the fourth best player in the world in the SSBMRank 2024.[1]

Career

[edit]

aMSa was born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on October 27, 1991.[2] He stated that he has been a fan of Yoshi since his childhood and that, since the release of Super Smash Bros. Melee, Yoshi was his favorite character. Yoshi is considered a bad character for competitive play due to aspects such as his large hurtbox, poor defensive options, and lack of recovery when knocked off stage. For a time, he was considered the fourth worst character in the game.[3] aMSa started his professional career in 2013, having decent results, including a win against Mew2King, ranked third in the world at the time. In 2014, he finished ninth place at Apex and, next year, finished fifth.[3] In 2019, due to aMSa's performances, Yoshi went on to be considered the twelfth best character in the game.[3]

In February 2019, aMSa signed with Red Bull.[4] He moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 2022, to compete in more North American tournaments.[5][6] On October 10, 2022, he won his first major tournament, The Big House 10, after beating Mang0; this was considered one of the most "stacked" tournaments of Melee's history. This was the first time a Yoshi won a major in the history of Melee.[7][8] By the end of the year, he also won majors Apex and Scuffed World Tour,[9] and was considered the second best Melee player as ranked by SSBMRank.[10] In March 2023, aMSa joined esports organization Golden Guardians.[11]

Notable tournament placings

[edit]

Only Majors and Supermajors are listed.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

[edit]
Tournament[12] Date 1v1 Placement 2v2 Placement Partner
EVO 2013 July 12–14, 2013 25th
Apex 2014 January 17–19, 2014 9th 65th V3ctorman
MLG Anaheim 2014 June 20–22, 2014 17th 25th PL
CEO 2014 June 27–29, 2014 33rd 9th PL
Kings of Cali 4 July 5–6, 2014 5th 7th PL
EVO 2014 July 11–13, 2014 17th 33rd PL
Apex 2015 January 30 – February 1, 2015 5th
EVO 2015 July 17–19, 2015 25th
Pound 2016 April 2–3, 2016 13th 33rd Toph
Super Smash Con 2016 August 11–14, 2016 9th 17th Mr.II
EVO 2017 July 14–16, 2017 17th
The Big House 7 October 6–8, 2017 13th 25th Sanne
Smash Summit 5 November 2–5, 2017 13th 3rd Axe
GENESIS 5 January 19–21, 2018 9th 17th Sanne
Full Bloom 4 March 24–25, 2018 7th
Smash Summit 6 May 3–6, 2018 7th 5th Axe
Get On My Level 2018 May 18–20, 2018 5th 4th Axe
EVO 2018 August 3–5, 2018 33rd 4th Sanne
Super Smash Con 2018 August 9–12, 2018 5th 17th Sanne
Smash Summit 7 November 15, 2018 5th 4th Axe
GENESIS 6 February 1–3, 2019 2nd
Get On My Level 2019 May 17–19, 2019 9th 2nd Axe
Smash 'N' Splash 5 May 31 – June 2, 2019 5th
Smash Summit 8 June 13–16, 2019 7th 5th Axe
GENESIS 7 January 24–26, 2020 9th 13th Sanne
Smash Summit 9 February 13–16, 2020 9th
Smash Summit 11 July 15–18, 2021 9th
Smash Summit 12 December 9–12, 2021 5th
GENESIS 8 April 15–17, 2022 5th 1st Plup
Pound 2022 April 22–24, 2022 3rd
Battle of BC 4 June 10–12, 2022 4th 2nd moky
Get On My Level 2022 July 1–3, 2022 9th 2nd Duck
Double Down 2022 July 8–10, 2022 2nd
Lost Tech City 2022 September 30–October 2, 2022 4th 3rd Axe
The Big House 10 October 7–9, 2022 1st 4th SluG
Ludwig Smash Invitational October 21–23, 2022 7th
Smash Summit 14 November 3–6, 2022 3rd
Apex 2022 November 18–20, 2022 1st 2nd Axe
Mainstage 2022 December 2–4, 2022 3rd
Scuffed World Tour December 18, 2022 1st
GENESIS 9 January 20–22, 2023 9th 3rd Mango
Collision 2023 March 10–12, 2023 13th 2nd Axe
MAJOR UPSET April 1–2, 2023 3rd 2nd Axe
Battle of BC 5 May 19–21, 2023 2nd 2nd Axe
Tipped Off 14 June 3–4 2023 4th 2nd Axe
Get On My Level 2023 July 21–23, 2023 4th 1st Axe
The Big House 11 October 20–22, 2023 5th
GENESIS X February 16–18, 2024 2nd 3rd Axe

References

[edit]
  1. ^ GimmeDatWheat (August 8, 2024). "SSBMRank 2024: The Top Ten". Medium. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  2. ^ "Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto". Red Bull. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Popko, John (February 21, 2021). "A boy and his dino: the love story of aMSa and Yoshi". InvenGlobal. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  4. ^ D'Orazio, Nick (February 5, 2019). "The Infamous Red Yoshi, aMSa, joins Red Bull esports as a Super Smash Bros. Melee competitor". InvenGlobal. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Richman, Olivia. ""I want to say the best player in the world is a Yoshi main": aMSa After DreamHack Melee Victory". Esports Illustrated. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Lee-Ash, Jonah; Akshon Esports. "How aMSa became a Smash Melee player you absolutely need to watch out for". Red Bull. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Tate, Dylan. "aMSa makes Melee history with The Big House 10 win". Upcomer. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  8. ^ Michael, Cale (October 9, 2022). "AMSa makes Super Smash Bros. Melee history with Yoshi at The Big House 10". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  9. ^ Michael, Cale (December 19, 2022). "Scuffed or not: aMSa closes out 2022 with another Melee Major victory amid Smash community drama". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  10. ^ Tate, Dylan. "Best 100 Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world, ranked (2023)". Upcomer. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  11. ^ Michael, Cale (March 30, 2023). "Golden Guardians expands Smash Melee roster, signs aMSa one day after losing Zain". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  12. ^ "Melee - aMSa". SmashBoards. Retrieved October 22, 2023.