![]() ![]() Some have speculated that this may be because Japanese players have more experience with either the Yoshi matchup or aMSa's specific style of play, as Japanese players have many more chances to play aMSa than non-Japanese players do, hinting that perhaps aMSa's international performances owe greatly to many players' unfamiliarity with the Yoshi matchup. At EVO 2015, he finished 25th, losing early in winners to Light, a relatively-unknown Peach player in what is known as one of Yoshi's worst matchups, and in losers to Hax.ĭespite his great performances internationally, with victories over some of the best players in the world, aMSa has consistently lost to players in Japan that have not been nearly as successful as aMSa internationally, such as Gucci (25th at Apex 2013), Shippu (113th at Apex 2015), and Kounotori (33rd at EVO 2013). aMSa's 5th place finish at Apex was the best-ever placing for him and his seemingly-improved Yoshi at a US national, and showed that he was still very capable despite his middling finishes the previous summer. In the losers' bracket, he eliminated Zhu, Lucky (who had eliminated him 3-0 at Kings of Cali 4), SFAT, and KirbyKaze, before losing to Mango, but not before taking two games. Īt Apex 2015, he went undefeated until meeting Leffen (considered the best Yoshi player in the world before aMSa's entry into the scene), who defeated him 2-0. Although it looked as if aMSa would be unable to attend Apex, he announced on January 21 that his boss let him to take time off work to go to the US, allowing him to enter the then-largest tournament of all time. However, he finished 2nd behind the Peach player Shippu. In December, aMSa attended Battle Gateway 6, the Japanese qualifier for Apex 2015, the winner of which would be awarded a free flight to Apex. He ended his summer in the US with a 17th place finish at EVO 2014 a week later. However, he then proceeded to lose to Mango and Lucky 3-0, finishing 5th, eventually outplaced by Mew2King. ![]() Just a few weeks later at Kings of Cali 4, however, aMSa managed to defeat Mew2King while Mew2King played Sheik and Fox. ![]() In many of his sets at Anaheim he took the lead 2-0 before losing the next three games, leading some to believe that his opponents managed to adapt to the unfamiliar Yoshi matchup over the course of five games. ![]() At Anaheim, however, he only managed to win one set against PewPewU, finishing last in his pool before being defeated by S2J in bracket for a worst-possible placing of 17th. Thanks to his third place finish at Republic of Fighters 3, where he lost to only Armada and Leffen while playing the PAL version of Melee where Yoshi is considered stronger, he qualified directly into the top MLG Anaheim. His high placings at large tournaments and incredibly technical Yoshi play has lead many to reconsider Yoshi's place in the current metagame as well the tier list. Since then, aMSa has garnered a large amount of support from the Melee community, receiving not only a crowd-funded sponsorship to go to Republic of Fighters 3 in Europe, but also a sponsorship from VGBootCamp, which was working in collaboration with the subreddit r/smashbros. After taking a game off of Mew2King at EVO 2013 and placing 9th at Apex 2014, his Red Yoshi became a recognizable symbol in the competitive community. Hailing from Miyagi, Japan, aMSa is one of few top professional Yoshi mains. In November 2022, he won his second major, Apex 2022, again without losing a set. At GENESIS 8 in April 2022, he became the first player from Asia to win a major doubles tournament by taking first place with Plup, and the first person in history to do so with Yoshi.ĪMSa won The Big House 10 in October 2022 without losing a set, becoming the first player to win a Melee major with Yoshi, the first person from Asia to win a Melee supermajor, and the second person from Asia to win a Melee major after Japanese player Captain Jack's victory at MLG San Francisco 2004. He is the only player to have reached Top 8 of a Melee major with Yoshi, having first done so at Republic of Fighters 3 in 2014. He was ranked 2nd in SSBMRank 2022.ĪMSa is largely responsible for developing the metagame of Melee Yoshi. Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto is a Melee Yoshi player from Japan currently residing in Canada, who is considered the undisputed best Melee Yoshi main in the world, and the best Melee player from Japan. ![]()
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