| aMSa | |
|---|---|
 Chikamoto in 2026 with his newborn son | |
| Personal information | |
| Name | Masaya Chikamoto |
| Born | October 27, 1991 Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan |
| Career information | |
| Game | Super Smash Bros. Melee |
| Playing career | 2013–present |
| Team history | |
| 2014–2023 | VGBootCamp |
| 2019–present | Red Bull |
| 2023 | Golden Guardians |
| 2023–present | I-FREEK Mobile |
| Career highlights and awards | |
(3 majors won)
| |
| Twitch information | |
| Channel | |
| Followers | 58,200 |
| Last updated: February 2026 | |
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 10 player to play Yoshi, the undisputed best Melee Yoshi solo main in the entire world, and the first player from Asia to win a Melee supermajor. 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 23rd best player in the world in SSBMRank 2025.[1]
Career
Chikamoto 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. For a time, Yoshi was considered to be a very weak character in competitive play, being ranked as low as the fourth worst character in the game for a time.[3] Chikamoto started his professional career in 2013, having decent results, including winning a game 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 2021, due to Chikamoto's performances, Yoshi went on to be considered the tenth best character in the game, out of a total of twenty-six characters.[3]
In February 2019, Chikamoto 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 by many to be the most difficult tournament to win in the game's history due to the amount of top players that were in attendance. This was the first time a player had won a major tournament using only Yoshi 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, Chikamoto joined esports organization Golden Guardians.[11] He stopped working for Golden Guardians after they disbanded their roster of Melee players on November 30, 2023.
Personal life
Chikamoto was born in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on October 27, 1991.[2] He resided in Vancouver, Canada in 2022, but later moved back to Japan.
On May 16, 2023, Chikamoto announced via Twitter that he had gotten married.[12]
On January 26th, 2026, Chikamoto announced via Twitter that his wife had given birth to a baby boy, making him a father.[13]
References
- ^ GimmeDatWheat (January 29, 2026). "SSBMRank 2025: 21–30". Medium. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- ^ a b "Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto". Red Bull. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Richman, Olivia (April 9, 2023). ""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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Tate, Dylan (October 10, 2022). "aMSa makes Melee history with The Big House 10 win". Upcomer. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Tate, Dylan (January 22, 2023). "Best 100 Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world, ranked (2023)". Upcomer. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
- ^ Michael, Cale (March 30, 2023). "Golden Guardians expands Smash Melee roster, signs aMSa one day after losing Zain". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
- ^ Chikamoto, Masaya (May 16, 2023). "aMSa on X:【ご報告/Announcement 】". X. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ Chikamoto, Masaya (January 26, 2026). "aMSa 🎮 🇯🇵". X. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
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