Smasher:ESAM

ESAM is a Smash player from Miami, Florida who is considered the greatest Pikachu player of all time across three Smash titles. He is also a notable commentator, 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.

He was considered the best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world prior to the pandemic, and is still currently one of the two best Pikachu players in the world alongside. ESAM is currently ranked 18th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7, 45th on the OrionRank 2022 North America, and 82nd on the OrionRank 2022; he was formerly ranked 1st on the Oklahoma Ultimate Power Rankings and 35th on the PGRU v3 NA.

In, ESAM was also a main, considered the best Pikachu player in the world; he also had a  secondary, and was one of the best Samus players in the world alongside. ESAM was ranked 1st on the final Oklahoma Smash 4 Power Rankings and 17th on the Panda Global Rankings 100; he was also formerly ranked 2nd on the South Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, ESAM was a and  co-main, and was considered the best Pikachu player in the world and one of the best Ice Climbers players in the world. ESAM was ranked at the 0 position on the final Florida Brawl Power Rankings, and was formerly ranked at the 0 position on the Carolina Brawl Power Rankings and 6th on the 2014 SSBBRank.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he is a player with a  secondary and is considered one of the best Samus players in the United States. ESAM was formerly ranked 4th on the South Florida Melee Power Rankings and 68th on the 2016 SSBMRank.

In Project M, ESAM is also a and  player, and was considered one of the best Samus players in the world, alongside.

ESAM regularly teams with 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 practice against each other.

On June 24th, 2015, alongside MVD and, ESAM was signed by. ESAM left the team after over 7 years, on January 15th, 2023. On March 31st, 2023, ESAM was signed by. His contract would end 3 months later on July 1st, 2023.

2010 MLG Pro Circuit
ESAM rose to fame when he placed 4th at MLG Orlando 2010. He lost to early in winners' bracket, but made a long run through losers' bracket, defeating players such as, , and , before being eliminated by  in losers' semis. He placed 8th at MLG Columbus 2010, defeating, , and Tyrant in losers' bracket after losing to in winners' bracket, before being eliminated by  in losers' top 8, and 9th at MLG Raleigh 2010, defeating  and CO18 in winners' bracket before losing to  and. Lastly, he placed 4th at MLG DC 2010, losing to in winners' bracket, but defeating NickRiddle, Lee Martin, Tyrant,, and  to make it to losers' semis, where he lost to.

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 in winners' finals 1-3 and then proceeded to lose to  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 0-2 in winners' semis. He eliminated 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 in losers' bracket, and 9th at GENESIS 2, defeating  and  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 in winners' bracket before losing to. In losers' bracket, he defeated, UltimateRazer 2-1, and 2-1, before losing to  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, ESAM defeated 2-0, , Anti 2-1, and Ally 2-1 to make it to winners' finals, where he lost to  1-3. In losers' finals, he defeated 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, , , and 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 2-1 in winners' bracket, before losing to Anti 1-2. He defeated in losers' bracket before being eliminated by, 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, , and Ally 2-1, before being eliminated by 0-2 in losers' top 8, placing 7th.

2014 to 2015
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, , and , before losing to 0-2.

ESAM placed 3rd once again in Brawl singles at SKTAR 3. In winners' bracket, he defeated Leon and 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 2-3, and then he was eliminated by Nairo 1-3 in losers' finals. ESAM also placed 4th in Project M singles, defeating, ZeRo, and Zhime 2-0 in winners' bracket, before losing to 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 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
At the beginning of Smash 4, ESAM was invited to Sky's Smash 4 Invitational where he lost to 0-2 in winners. In losers he defeated 2-1,  2-0, FOW 3-0, and  3-1 before losing to  1-3 and placing second.

To start out 2015, ESAM entered Final Battle where he defeated in winners before losing to. In losers, he defeated and  before being eliminated by  and placing 5th. His next major event was CEO 2015, where he defeated Trela 2-0 and 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 2-0 and  2-1 before being sent to losers by  1-2. In losers, he defeated 2-0 before being elimnated by  1-2 and finishing at 7th place.

At Super Smash Con 2015, ESAM defeated 2-0, and  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 2-0 and Zex 2-0 before losing to  0-2. In losers he defeated 2-0 before losing to  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 2-1, Abadango 2-0, and  3-2 before Ally defeated him 3-1 in both sets of grand finals. At The Big House 5 itself ESAM defeated 2-0, and  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 3-2,  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 2-0, and  2-0 to make it out of pools. In top 32 he defeated 2-0,  2-0, and  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 2-0 to make it out of pools. In bracket ESAM lost to 1-2. In losers ESAM defeated Day 2-0 again, 2-1,  3-2, and  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 2-0 and  2-0 to make top 16. In top 16 he defeated 2-1 before losing to  1-3 in winners semis. ESAM was then defeated by 2-3 and placed 5th place at his own tournament. At GENESIS 3, ESAM defeated 2-0 before being upset by  1-2 in round 2 pools. In losers' bracket, he defeated 2-1 and  2-0 to make top 32. In top 32 he eliminated 3-0 and  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 in top 32. In losers bracket he defeated 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 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 2-1. and 2-0 to make top 8 winners side. In winners semis he defeated 2-0 before losing to Mr. R 2-3 in winners finals and being upset by  2-3 in losers finals. He also placed 9th in Melee singles defeating 2-1 in winners and  3-1 in losers. He also teamed with to win Smash 4 doubles over Mr. R and cyve.

At Shots Fired 2, ESAM defeated 2-1 to make top 32. In top 32 he lost to 2-0 and in losers he defeated  2-0 before being eliminated by  1-3. At Pound 2016 ESAM defeated 2-1 to make it to round 2 pools. In round 2 he defeated 2-1 before losing to  1-2. In losers bracket he defeated 2-0 to make top 16 where he defeated  3-0 and was eliminated by  2-3 and placing 9th. At TGC 7, ESAM was upset by 0-2 in pools. In top 32 he defeated 2-0,  2-0,  2-0,  2-0, and  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 2-0,  2-0,  3-0,  3-2, and  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, 3-0, and  3-1 before being eliminated by  2-3 and ultimately finishing in 4th place. At Low Tier City 4 ESAM lost to 1-2 in bracket. In losers he defeated and  to make top 8 losers side. In top 8 he defeated 3-0 before being eliminated by Hyuga 1-3. At CEO 2016 ESAM defeated 2-0 to make it out of pools. In top 64 he defeated 2-1 before losing to Dabuz 0-2 and being eliminated by  1-2 and placing 17th. At EVO 2016 ESAM was upset by 1-2 in pools. In losers he eliminated 2-0, Falln 2-0,  2-0, and  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, NickRiddle, and MVD, but not before MVD reset the bracket. At Super Smash Con 2016, ESAM defeated 2-1 in round 2 pools before losing 0-2 to  and, finishing at an all time low of 33rd place. However, he performed well in Melee, getting 13th and defeating, , and.

ESAM saw a return to form starting at Shine 2016, where he defeated 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 1-3. In losers finals he defeated 3-2 before being eliminated by ZeRo 0-3 in grand finals. At Trail Gaming League 9 he defeated, 2-0,  2-1,  3-0 and  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 1-2 in round 1 pools. In losers he eliminated 2-0 and  2-1 before losing to  1-2 and placing yet another 33rd place. At Trail Gaming League 10, ESAM defeated  2-0 and  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 2-3 in winners quarters. In losers bracket, he eliminated 3-1 to make top 8 losers side. In top 8, he eliminated 3-0,  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 2-0,  3-1, and JJROCKETS 3-0 and 3-1. At UGC Smash Open, he defeated 2-0 and  3-1 to make it out of pools. In top 48 he defeated 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 0-2 in pools and after a long losers bracket run was eliminated by  0-3 finishing out the year at 9th place.

At the start of 2017, ESAM attended Smash Conference LXIX where he defeated 2-0 before losing to  1-2 in winners quarters. In losers bracket ESAM defeated 2-1, NickRiddle 2-1,  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 1-2 in winners finals of their pool. In losers he defeated 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, 2-1, and Tyrant 2-1, before losing to  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, 2-1, Samsora 2-1,  2-0,  3-1, and  3-0 before losing to  1-3 and finishing at 13th place.

In February ESAM was invited to Niconico Tokaigi 2017. At the event he defeated 2-0 before falling to  1-2 and  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 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 3-1 on his way to winners quarters. His run ended at 9th place with back to back losses to 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 to make it out of pools. In top 96 ESAM lost to Kirihara 0-3 sending him to the losers bracket where he defeated 3-0 to make it into top 32. His true accomplishment at the tournament was that he finally took a set from. 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 2-0, Pugwest 3-0, Marss 3-1 and MVD 3-2.

At the Florida national CEO Dreamland, ESAM defeated and  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 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.

2019
Prior to the release of Ultimate, ESAM was already hyping up '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, where he placed 2nd out of over 500 players and falling only to.

Sticking with Pikachu, ESAM began the first Ultimate season with a strong 7th place finish at, defeating and  along the way. This, however, initially seemed as an outlier: despite consistently placing top 8 at a regional level during that season, including winning over Ally, ESAM saw mediocre results on a national level, placing 65th at, 33rd at , and 25th at. He also struggled against the matchup and notably lost two sets against the up-and-coming Peach player. 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, where ESAM ran through Ally, , , and even to ultimately place 3rd, his best tournament run of the season. ESAM capped off the first season with a 9th place at, 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 and, losing to players who weren't ranked on the PGR at that time. His performances at other supermajors such as and  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 and. 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 and, but fell to his bracket demons MuteAce and  to place 5th. These results, as well as his victory at the Canadian regional, once again cemented him as a top 20 player, and he rose two spots on the Fall 2019 PGRU, placing 14th.

2020-mid 2021
Coming off of a rather inconsistent season, ESAM began the third season looking better than ever, placing 3rd at and 4th at. 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, he placed 9th at the next Quarantine Series tournament, defeating. His final, and best, notable placement was at, where despite being upset by Gos, he made a grueling Loser's run, defeating and  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 by winning the second qualifier,, over , and saw another top 8 placement at the fourth qualifier,. He then qualified for the by placing 2nd at, losing to  twice. His final notable tournament of the online era was at, 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.

2021
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, 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 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, he fell short significantly by losing to and  to place 17th. Although he came out of Round Robin on the winner's side at, he fell to and  to place 7th, failing to qualify for the championship tournament. His final two tournaments - and  - 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 and Kola - and 18th in the world on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse.

2022
The first half of ESAM's year was rather uneventful, as he only attended 3 notable tournaments:, , and. He only garnered a single top 50 win - 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 throughout most of the tournament, and was ranked 35th on the PGRU v3 NA, a significant drop from his top 13 placement on the PGRContenders list.

Playstyle
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.

Hypocrisy allegations
ESAM has made several statements in the past deemed hypocritical by numerous members of the Smash community. On July 16th, 2020, would make a video about ESAM describing some of these instances.

Throughout the years 2012 to 2014, ESAM would say multiple racial slurs on websites such as Smashboards and on 's stream. One of the comments, "go boxing ring", has since become a meme in the community. Since then, however, ESAM has harassed multiple people for doing similar acts. This includes Bocchi, who was 15 when she said slurs, whereas ESAM was 22. ESAM also notably called for people to harass over a screenshot of someone using his username to say multiple slurs. In the past, he had done the same thing to and  when false allegations were made about them. After the Kiyarash incident, ESAM then made a tweet criticizing other Smash players for "supporting cancel culture" and for trying to actively harm someone's image despite his previous actions.

ESAM would eventually make a video called "Accountability" apologizing for his actions. He would also make a Twitter thread where he would apologize to MJG and FOW for promoting the false claims made about them. This section, in particular, was criticized heavily as ESAM also mentioned that he will keep believing every victim who makes a story.

On November 17th, 2020, ESAM would reply to, sending an extremely vulgar Tweet in response to him winning an offline local during a pandemic. After Tweeting this, he received a huge amount of backlash for "being too harsh" on Gabe and for not saying anything when his brother was also attending locals during the pandemic.

Libel allegations
On August 14th, 2011, ESAM would come out against claiming that he should be banned while spreading rumors about him masturbating to hentai on random people's beds. Mew2King would later confirm that ESAM's allegations were false due to health conditions which made it impossible for him to perform said actions.

On July 2nd, 2020, amidst a wave of sexual harassment allegations in the community and while D1 was under scrutiny for his conduct with KTDominate, ESAM posted his side of the story, where he talked about how he had denounced D1's actions and refused to forgive him until KTDominate did, which took place years after the incident. In July 2021, however, released a statement via Medium, as well as a video version on YouTube, to address the allegations against him, this time with more context and evidence for his side of the story. One of the screenshots provided was a conversation with ESAM in 2017, where ESAM conceded that he knew D1 didn't have any malicious intention, contradicting what ESAM had said a year prior.

Trivia

 * ESAM is 's younger brother.
 * In ESAM's YouTube video "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Why Samus?", he explains that his tag comes from a combination of his name "Eric" and "Samus" since was the first character he mained in Melee and is one of his favorite video game characters. When ESAM was around the age of 5, he used to bond with his father by watching him play Super Metroid, which birthed his love for both the Metroid series and Samus.
 * ESAM is also a top player, and he won the Divekick event at.
 * ESAM is the subject of a number of memes within the Smash community in reference to his bald head; he has sometimes gone by the alias "Mr. Clean", and it is common for spectators in tournament streams to point out his presence by merely mentioning that "ESAM is bald".
 * Due to his attitude and tendency to immerse himself in drama, ESAM is seen as a controversial figure in the Smash community. He is well noted for starting confrontations with other players in social media, and for having questionable or unpopular opinions, particularly his insistence on being one of the best characters in Smash 4. The latter point has also started a meme in the Smash community as "#ESAMOpinions", being used to refer to any stance that is not widely shared.
 * Ironically enough, he sometimes uses said hashtag to denote how his opinion might not be widely shared in its entirety.
 * He also has a noted tendency to have his opinions be reversed on him, especially in regards to his opinions on characters.
 * ESAM is the most prominent user of the Bidou control scheme in Smash 4; however, since he does not use Bidou for any character other than Pikachu, this sometimes causes him to have multiple control schemes in tournament, especially when controlling other characters such as.
 * ESAM is a member of a YouTube channel called Games Over Easy, where he plays games alongside fellow smash professional MVD. As of December 2018, the channel has not uploaded any videos since Ultimate's release.
 * On April 19th, 2019, ESAM infamously lost a $500 money match against at, with Samsora winning 10-1 and both competitors subsequently joking about the match together on Twitter.
 * In the singles bracket at the same tournament, he lost to 1-2 in Winners and lost to  2-3 in Losers, meaning he lost 15 total games to Peach at one tournament.