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 sixth best player in the world in the SSBMRank 2023.[1]
Career
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 hitbox, 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]