Smasher:ESAM
: 16th 
ESAM is a Smash player from Miami, Florida who is considered one of the most recognizable Pikachu players in all of Smash. He is also a notable commentator and content creator, a member of the Smash Back Room, a former member of the Unity Ruleset Committee, and a former tournament organizer, having previously hosted the Zero Ping series.
ESAM began competing in Super Smash Bros. Melee playing Samus but became better known for his career in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where he initially played Pikachu before becoming a Pikachu and Ice Climbers co-main. He was considered the greatest Pikachu player of all time and one of the best Ice Climbers players in the world in Brawl's later years. He broke out onto the scene after placing 4th at MLG Orlando 2010 and has since placed top 8 at several other major events. He was considered one of the best players in Brawl in the game's final years, ranking 6th on the SSBBRank 2014. In addition, his Melee career also took off during this time, and he would be ranked on the SSBMRank across four different years. He also competed in Project M for a few years playing Samus, and was not only one of the best Samus players in the world in 2014, but also retroactively considered a top 10 player that year.
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, ESAM continued to play Pikachu, and was also considered the greatest Pikachu player of all time in the game. He was a major advocate for Pikachu's viability as a top tier, and was able to showcase Pikachu's strengths by finishing top 8 at many majors during his Smash 4 career, including placing 2nd at Super Smash Con 2015 and The Big House 8, the closest a Pikachu player came to winning a major. In addition to his Pikachu, he also had a Samus secondary, which he used to win Combo Breaker 2017 and infamously eliminate Ally at 2GGC: Civil War. He was ranked on every PGR ranking, and was ultimately ranked 17th on the PGR 100.
In a similar vein to his Smash 4 career, ESAM played Pikachu in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and was the best Pikachu player in the early metagame, becoming a major advocate for Pikachu being one of the best characters in the game. He became the first Pikachu player to win a major, doing so at Glitch 7 - Minus World, and is the only Pikachu player with more than one major win, having also won Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code. At his peak, he was ranked 14th on both the Fall 2019 PGRU and the OrionRank 2019. He became significantly less active in the post-pandemic metagame and eventually picked up Mii Brawler as a co-main. Though his results have since been matched by ShinyMark, he is still considered one of the greatest Pikachu players of all time.
ESAM regularly teams with MVD in doubles, and the pair are considered one of the best doubles teams in the world. They formerly lived in the same city in Oklahoma and regularly practiced against each other.
On June 24th, 2015, alongside MVD and SS, ESAM was signed by Panda.[1] ESAM left the team after over 7 years, on January 15th, 2023.[2] On March 31st, 2023, ESAM was signed by 26 Rising.[3] His contract would end 3 months later on July 1st, 2023.[4]
Tournament history[edit]
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2010 MLG Pro Circuit[edit]
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 NickRiddle. Lastly, he placed 4th at MLG DC 2010, losing to Havok in winners' bracket, but defeating NickRiddle, 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[edit]
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.
2014 to 2015[edit]
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 NickRiddle 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.
Smash 4[edit]
At the beginning of Smash 4, ESAM was invited to Sky's Smash 4 Invitational where he lost to FOW 0-2 in winners. In losers he defeated Trela 2-1, Zinoto 2-0, FOW 3-0, and ZeRo 3-1 before losing to Mr. R 1-3 and placing second.
To start out 2015, ESAM entered Final Battle where he defeated Rich Brown in winners before losing to Larry Lurr. In losers, he defeated Bloodcross and SlayerZ before being eliminated by Zex and placing 5th. His next major event was CEO 2015, where he defeated Trela 2-0 and Dabuz 2-1 before being sent to losers 1-3 by ZeRo and eliminated by Larry Lurr 1-3 and netting another 5th place finish. He later attended EVO 2015, the largest smash tournament at the time where he defeated 8BitMan 2-0 and Regi 2-1 before being sent to losers by Abadango 1-2. In losers, he defeated SS 2-0 before being eliminated by Ally 1-2 and finishing at 7th place.
At Super Smash Con 2015, ESAM defeated DKwill 2-0, and Nairo 3-2 before losing to ZeRo in a very close set in winners finals, 2-3. He would then defeat Nairo 3-1 in losers finals before losing his rematch with ZeRo 0-3 in grand finals, where he used Yoshi in Game 2. ESAM later traveled to California for Paragon Los Angeles 2015, where he defeated Angbad 2-0 and Zex 2-0 before losing to 6WX 0-2. In losers he defeated AC 2-0 before losing to SlayerZ 1-2 and finishing at 13th place. In October, ESAM traveled to Michigan for The Big House 5; he also entered Smashfield Weeklies 9 which was happening before the event. At the weekly, he defeated Megafox 2-1, Abadango 2-0, and Ally 3-2 before Ally defeated him 3-1 in both sets of grand finals. At The Big House 5 itself ESAM defeated smasher1001 2-0, and Shel 2-0 to make it into top 32. In Top 32, ESAM defeated Trela 2-0 before losing to Dabuz 0-3 and being eliminated by ZeRo 1-3 and ultimately finishing at 9th place.
He finished 3rd in Smash 4 singles at MLG World Finals 2015. In winners' bracket, he beat NickRiddle 3-2, GrimTurtle 3-0, 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.
At Tipped Off 11, he defeated iPunchKidsz 2-0, and Leaf FC 2-0 to make it out of pools. In top 32 he defeated Kodystri 2-0, ScAtt 2-0, and Vinnie 3-1 before losing to ZeRo 1-3 in winners finals. In losers finals, he defeated Vinnie 3-1 again before being eliminated by ZeRo 3-0 and ultimately finishing 2nd.
To finish off the year, ESAM entered Frame Perfect Series where he defeated Day 2-0 to make it out of pools. In bracket ESAM lost to DJ Jack 1-2. In losers ESAM defeated Day 2-0 again, Ryo 2-1, Manny 3-2, and Fatality 3-1 before being eliminated by DJ Jack 3-1 finishing in 4th place.
To start out 2016, ESAM was flown out to California to attend 2GGT: ESAM Saga. At the tournament, he defeated Aarvark 2-0 and S2H 2-0 to make top 16. In top 16 he defeated falln 2-1 before losing to K9sbruce 1-3 in winners semis. ESAM was then defeated by Tyrant 2-3 and placed 5th place at his own tournament. At GENESIS 3, ESAM defeated Rice 2-0 before being upset by Teb 1-2 in round 2 pools. In losers' bracket, he defeated J! 2-1 and Seagull Joe 2-0 to make top 32. In top 32 he eliminated RIN 3-0 and Manny 3-0 before losing 3-2 to Nairo, who lost the first two games with Dr. Mario before winning three in a row with Zero Suit Samus. At PAX Arena, ESAM was upset 1-3 by Jbandrew in top 32. In losers bracket he defeated Mew2King 3-2 to make top 8 losers side. In top 8 he lost to Vinnie 1-3 and finished in 7th place. At TGC 6 ESAM defeated Mew2 2-0 and Jbandrew 2-0 to make top 8 winners side; however, top 8 was canceled, and the pot was split evenly among the remaining 8 competitors.
At B.E.A.S.T 6, he finished 3rd in Smash 4 singles defeating vyQ 2-1. and cyve 2-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he defeated wilksy15 2-0 before losing to Mr. R 2-3 in winners finals and being upset by iStudying 2-3 in losers finals. He also placed 9th in Melee singles defeating Vanity Angel 2-1 in winners and Baxon 3-1 in losers. He also teamed with MVD to win Smash 4 doubles over Mr. R and cyve.
At Shots Fired 2, ESAM defeated Venom 2-1 to make top 32. In top 32 he lost to ANTi 2-0 and in losers he defeated C3PO 2-0 before being eliminated by Ranai 1-3. At Pound 2016 ESAM defeated Camalange 2-1 to make it to round 2 pools. In round 2 he defeated Wizzrobe 2-1 before losing to Marss 1-2. In losers bracket he defeated Raptor 2-0 to make top 16 where he defeated NAKAT 3-0 and was eliminated by Ally 2-3 and placing 9th. At TGC 7, ESAM was upset by CaptainZack 0-2 in pools. In top 32 he defeated RunC.T. 2-0, GrimTurtle 2-0, L.U.C.Y 2-0, Pugwest 2-0, and Karna 2-0 before being eliminated by his teammate MVD 0-2 and finishing in 5th place.
ESAM was able to end his losing streak by taking first at Paradigm Shift, defeating Fatality 3-0 in winners finals and grand finals. He also won Combo Breaker 2016 defeating smasher1001 2-0, Skorpio 2-0, Dekillsage 3-0, JJROCKETS 3-2, and Tyroy 3-2.
His short win streak was ended at Midwest Mayhem 3, where he lost to Tyroy 0-2 in winners quarters. In losers bracket he defeated MVD 2-1, BoScotty 3-0, and Ksev 3-1 before being eliminated by False 2-3 and ultimately finishing in 4th place. At Low Tier City 4 ESAM lost to Hyuga 1-2 in bracket. In losers he defeated Aerolink and MJG to make top 8 losers side. In top 8 he defeated P2P with Gibus 3-0 before being eliminated by Hyuga 1-3. At CEO 2016 ESAM defeated Mister Eric 2-0 to make it out of pools. In top 64 he defeated Wrath 2-1 before losing to Dabuz 0-2 and being eliminated by Saj 1-2 and placing 17th. At EVO 2016 ESAM was upset by NickC 1-2 in pools. In losers he eliminated Sinji 2-0, Falln 2-0, DJ Jack 2-0, and HIKARU 2-0 before being eliminated by Trela 1-2 and finishing at a disappointing 25th place. At Trail Gaming League 8, ESAM took the tournament defeating Seibrik, NickRiddle, and MVD, but not before MVD reset the bracket. At Super Smash Con 2016, ESAM defeated Rayquaza07 2-1 in round 2 pools before losing 0-2 to Ryo and Dark Wizzy, finishing at an all time low of 33rd place. However, he performed well in Melee, getting 13th and defeating lloD, Zhu, and Westballz.
ESAM saw a return to form starting at Shine 2016, where he defeated Manny 3-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he defeated Mew2King 3-1 to move onto winners finals where he lost to ZeRo 1-3. In losers finals he defeated Dath 3-2 before being eliminated by ZeRo 0-3 in grand finals. At Trail Gaming League 9 he defeated True Blue, Saj 2-0, Wormynugget 2-1, dyr 3-0 and Zinoto 3-1 en route to a first place finish. However, ESAM fell back down in results at The Big House 6 where he lost to Frozen 1-2 in round 1 pools. In losers he eliminated Puppeh 2-0 and Ned 2-1 before losing to CaptainZack 1-2 and placing yet another 33rd place. At Trail Gaming League 10, ESAM defeated Xaltis 2-0 and Child 2-0 before falling to False 0-3 in winners finals and MVD 1-3 in losers finals. At Midwest Mayhem 5, ESAM was upset by JDB! 2-3 in winners quarters. In losers bracket, he eliminated Seth 3-1 to make top 8 losers side. In top 8, he eliminated Nero 3-0, JJROCKETS 3-2, and MVD 3-2 before falling to Zinoto 1-3 in losers finals.
Late November and early December, ESAM had by far his best performance of the year. At Kings of the North, he took first place defeating Skorpio 2-0, yeti 3-1, and JJROCKETS 3-0 and 3-1. At UGC Smash Open, he defeated James 2-0 and Salem 3-1 to make it out of pools. In top 48 he defeated VoiD 3-2 and CaptainZack 3-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he narrowly lost to Abadango 2-3. In losers quarters he defeated VoiD 3-2 again and Nairo 3-1 before being eliminated by Abadango 3-0 finishing with a very respectable 3rd place.
At Don't Park on the Grass, ESAM was upset by Snickeldorf 0-2 in pools and after a long losers bracket run was eliminated by Captain L 0-3 finishing out the year at 9th place.
At the start of 2017, ESAM attended Smash Conference LXIX where he defeated Myran 2-0 before losing to Samsora 1-2 in winners quarters. In losers bracket ESAM defeated Child 2-1, NickRiddle 2-1, Wormynugget 2-0, and Mew2King 3-2, before being eliminated by Samsora 1-3 starting off the year with a solid 3rd place.
ESAM later traveled to California for 2GGC: GENESIS Saga and GENESIS 4. At 2GGC: GENESIS Saga ESAM was defeated by Zenyou 1-2 in winners finals of their pool. In losers he defeated Jingen 3-0 before being eliminated by Dabuz 0-3 and finishing at 25th place. At a pre-GENESIS 4 Mega Smash Mondays, he lost to Tyrant 1-2 and was sent to losers. In losers, he defeated Marss 2-1, Javi 2-1, and Tyrant 2-1, before losing to MkLeo 0-3 and finishing in 4th place. At GENESIS 4, ESAM was upset by AeroLink 0-2 in winners finals of their round 1 pools. In losers, ESAM went on a losers bracket run defeating False 2-0, Mr. ConCon 2-1, Samsora 2-1, Ito 2-0, Earth 3-1, and Chag 3-0 before losing to ZeRo 1-3 and finishing at 13th place.
In February ESAM was invited to Niconico Tokaigi 2017. At the event he defeated Kameme 2-0 before falling to Kirihara 1-2 and KEN 0-2 to finish 9th.
ESAM was invited to PAX Arena at PAX East 2017 where he lost to Larry Lurr 2-3 in winners. In losers he defeated Pink Fresh 3-2 and Marss 3-1 before losing to Dabuz 1-3 en route to a 4th place finish.
At Frame Perfect Series 2, ESAM defeated dyr 2-0 and Cashmere 3-1 on his way to winners quarters. His run ended at 9th place with back to back losses to Kirihara 0-3 and Salem 2-3.
At 2GGC: Civil War, ESAM placed 17th, outplacing many upset top players. His run started with a very close 2-1 victory over Raffi-X to make it out of pools. In top 96 ESAM lost to Kirihara 0-3 sending him to the losers bracket where he defeated ImHip 3-0 to make it into top 32. His true accomplishment at the tournament was that he finally took a set from Ally. After losing game 1 with Mewtwo, he then opted with the low-tier character Samus, and took 3 straight games from Ally in dominant fashion. His run was then ended by HIKARU's Donkey Kong in a 1-3 set loss.
At Dubai x VG Bootcamp, ESAM placed 1st, defeating Fairess 2-0, Pugwest 3-0, Marss 3-1 and MVD 3-2.
At the Florida national CEO Dreamland, ESAM defeated Bloodcross and NAKAT 2-1 as well as Larry Lurr 3-1 and VoiD 3-2 to make top 8 winners side. Once in top 8 ESAM fell to ZeRo and Dabuz both 1-3 and ultimately finished in 5th place.
ESAM notably won Smashadelphia 2017, defeating Dabuz 3-1 in winners finals. In grand finals, he lost the first set to Dabuz 1-3, but ultimately won the second set 3-2.
Best Pikachu returns[edit]
Prior to the release of Ultimate, ESAM was already hyping up Pikachu's potential in the new game, noting the new combos the character could perform thanks to its new neutral air. ESAM proved his opinions right at Don't Park on the Grass 2018, where he placed 2nd out of over 500 players and falling only to MVD.
Sticking with Pikachu, ESAM began the first Ultimate season with a strong 7th place finish at GENESIS 6, defeating Ally and Tweek along the way. This, however, initially seemed as an outlier: despite consistently placing top 8 at a regional level during that season, including winning Battle of BC 3 over Ally, ESAM saw mediocre results on a national level, placing 65th at Frostbite 2019, 33rd at 2GG: Prime Saga, and 25th at Pound 2019. He also struggled against the Peach matchup and notably lost two sets against the up-and-coming Peach player MuteAce. Both his results and his struggle against Peach, however, did not deter ESAM, and he continued to lab Pikachu to try and bring out its true potential. This potential was shown at Get On My Level 2019, where ESAM ran through Ally, Cosmos, Nairo, and even MkLeo to ultimately place 3rd, his best tournament run of the season. ESAM capped off the first season with a 9th place at CEO 2019, where he finally overcame the Peach matchup by defeating MuteAce. Due to these performances and wins, ESAM was ranked 16th on the Spring 2019 PGRU.
ESAM's second season was somewhat similar to his first. ESAM's result once again saw several dips as he underperformed at both Low Tier City 7 and EVO 2019, losing to players who weren't ranked on the PGR at that time. His performances at other supermajors such as Super Smash Con 2019 and Shine 2019 were solid; however, it was because of relatively easy brackets, and he failed to make any notable upsets.
Despite these setbacks, however, ESAM ended up seeing his best season yet, largely due to his performances at both Glitch 7 - Minus World and Smash Ultimate Summit 2. At Glitch 7, ESAM tore through the entire tournament, defeating Nairo, Tweek, and Light twice to win the tournament, marking his first victory at a major tournament. At Summit, ESAM once again defeated MkLeo as well as Dabuz and Zackray, but fell to his bracket demons MuteAce and Maister to place 5th. These results, as well as his victory at the Canadian regional Rising Stars at EGLX 2019, once again cemented him as a top 20 player, and he rose two spots on the Fall 2019 PGRU, placing 14th.
Coming off of a rather inconsistent season, ESAM began the third season looking better than ever, placing 3rd at Glitch 8 - Missingno and 4th at GENESIS 7. The season, however, was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought tournament play online for a full year. This did not hinder ESAM, as his character was largely unaffected in the online metagame. Although underperforming at The Quarantine Series Opening Invitational, he placed 9th at the next Quarantine Series tournament, defeating Kola. His final, and best, notable placement was at The Box, where despite being upset by Gos, he made a grueling Loser's run, defeating Sparg0 and Epic_Gabriel along the way, to ultimately place 4th. These results allowed him to be ranked 14th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5, mirroring his Fall 2019 PGRU placement.
Although ESAM was rather inactive at WWR-ranked tournaments in the following season, he returned during the seventh season, mostly to participate in online tournament circuits. He qualified for The Pandemic Anniversary Series by winning the second qualifier, Return to Subspace: ONLINE, over Capitancito, and saw another top 8 placement at the fourth qualifier, Collision Online 2021. He then qualified for the SWT: NA East Ultimate Regional Finals by placing 2nd at SWT: NA Southeast Ultimate Online Qualifier, losing to Vendetta twice. His final notable tournament of the online era was at Pandemic Anniversary Series: Finale, where he once again placed top 8. Although he did not attend that many tournaments, ESAM's results at the notable tournaments he did attend helped him be ranked 18th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7.
Brief contender for the best[edit]
ESAM was absent during the first few months of the metagame's transition back to offline. When he returned, however, he returned with a bang. At Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code, ESAM defied expectations by once again tearing through the bracket in a similar vein to his Glitch 7 run; however, this time, he also defeated MkLeo twice - both times in the fourth game - to win the tournament, marking his second major victory. Following this run, many players began to consider ESAM as a potential candidate for the best player in the world, especially since many players in the United States also considered Pikachu to be one of the best characters in the game.
Ultimately, however, ESAM fell short of these expectations, as he failed to come close to the run he had at Glitch 8.5. Despite being seeded first at Super Smash Con: Fall Fest, he fell short significantly by losing to ApolloKage and IcyMist to place 17th. Although he came out of Round Robin on the winner's side at SWT: NA East Ultimate Regional Finals, he fell to Kola and Wrath to place 7th, failing to qualify for the championship tournament. His final two tournaments - Mainstage 2021 and CEO 2021 - also ended in disappointment: despite placing top 16 at both tournaments, he failed to make any notable upsets. These placements dashed away any hopes for ESAM to be the best player in the post-pandemic metagame, and by the end of the year, he was ranked in the A-tier (or top 13) on the PGRUContenders North America - below other players who had won major tournaments that season such as Light and Kola - and 18th in the world on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse.
Decline[edit]
The first half of ESAM's 2022 was rather uneventful, as he only attended 3 notable tournaments: GENESIS 8, Combo Breaker 2022, and Battle of BC 4. He only had a single top 50 win -- Tweek at GENESIS -- and failed to place top 8 at any of the three tournaments. Due to his low activity, he was relegated to an Honorable Mention on the OrionRank Mid-Year 2022, with his Combo Breaker 2022 result being ignored due to his perceived "sandbagging" with his new secondary Mii Brawler throughout most of the tournament,[5] and was ranked 35th on the PGRU v3 NA, a significant drop from his top 13 placement on the PGRContenders list. Likewise, his second half was also barren as he attended a total of four notable events with mixed results: although he placed well at Shine 2022 and Lost Tech City 2022, defeating MuteAce in the latter event, he placed lukewarmly at The Big House 10 and DreamHack Atlanta 2022. In spite of the low activity, ESAM had enough events to be ranked on the OrionRank 2022; however, due to an overall mediocre season, he was only ranked 82nd.
ESAM's OrionRank 2022 placement remains the last time he was ever ranked on a global scale, in part due to his lower activity at a national level and worse results than previous years. Throughout 2023, he attended a total of seven events, placing no higher than 33rd at the four majors he attended while also underperforming at the superregional Santa Paws, with his only top 100 player win being BeastModePaul. In addition, for the first time ever, his title as the best Pikachu player was challenged and even taken away from him, due to the rise of ShinyMark throughout 2023 and into 2024, who eventually replaced ESAM as Pikachu's primary top-level representative.
Playstyle[edit]
ESAM is characterized for heavy aggression, with the ability to quickly switch into a campy and defensive playstyle. He is also known for his prowess in edge guarding and combo game with Pikachu, who he has mained across most of the Smash titles.
In neutral, ESAM plays aggressively due to the plethora of quick and safe options that often lead into a combo, which he will take to the furthest hit. His movement is also exemplary and improved upon in Smash 4 using Bidou, with emphasis on perfect pivoting and Quick Attack canceling. This, along with his aggressiveness, allows him to continously pressure his opponent and force them offstage to where, with Pikachu's many options, he will edgeguard them and attempt to take their stock. However, if he cannot play aggressively, usually against players that can counter his aggression or stall the match to their pace, he can play campy and spammy, utilizing Pikachu's Thunder Jolt to limit his opponents options and force them to approach. However, this limits himself as well as he cannot utilize his aggression to full potential resulting in him being suppressed and unable to take back control of the match. When he cannot find an opening or cannot edgeguard, ESAM lacks the ability to find a way back into the match unless he regains the momentum to quickly fight back. His edge guarding and edge trapping ability is phenomenal especially against characters with weak or lackluster recoveries. He utilizes Thunder to limit his opponent's options and Pikachu's quick multi-hit aerials to cover large spaces to where the opponent is continuously forced stage. Now, in Ultimate, with the inclusion of Pikachu's down air spike, ESAM has another option to finish off an opponent.
Rankings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
SSBMRank[edit]
| Ranking | Time Period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSBMRank 2013 | January-November 2013 | 93rd |  |
|
| SSBMRank 2014 | January-October 5th, 2014 | 100th | |
|
| SSBMRank 2015 | January-November 2015 | 81st | |
|
| SSBMRank 2016 | January 15th-December 4th, 2016 | 68th |  |
Florida Power Rankings/South Florida Power Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 2015 | 4th | |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
SSBBRank[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSBBRank 2014 | January 11th, 2013-June 1st, 2014 | 6th |   |
Florida Power Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2010 | 4th | |
|
| October 2010 | 2nd | |
|
| April 2011 | 1st | |