In what could end up as one of Super Smash Bros. Melee’s most stacked tournaments in history, aMSa did something that no one has ever done in the 21-year legacy of the game—win a Major with Yoshi.
In the history of competitive Melee, Yoshi has never won a Major event, aMSa had never won a Supermajor, and Japan had never taken a Supermajor victory in North America. All of these things changed in a single moment when aMSa took the final game to defeat Mang0 in The Big House 10’s grand finals.
It was no easy road, as the legendary Red Yoshi had to go through a line of Krudo, KoDoRiN, Hungrybox, and Soonsay just to reach winners finals.
That win against Hbox was also his first over someone who has been a bracket demon for him since Smash Summit 12 last December.
Following that run, he had to beat Mang0 in two consecutive games to take home the title, which he managed to do at the last second with a parry in the final game before a bracket reset that just put a pin in how excellent he was at executing his gameplan in every game at the event.
This win also helps aMSa keep his surprisingly strong historical set lead over Mang0, now sitting with a 7-3 overall record after double eliminating him from the event.
Overall, this was something dedicated Melee fans may have hoped for or seen coming, as his consistency has been building for multiple years. In 2022 alone aMSa has made history on two separate occasions as the undisputed best Yoshi player in the world.
Back in April at Genesis 8, aMSa teamed with Plup and became the first Japanese player to win a Major or Supermajor doubles event—and the first player to ever do so with Yoshi. That was followed just a few months later in July by him having a breakout run at Double Down 2022, where he finished second and became the first Yoshi player to ever make a grand finals at a Major.
After grinding the game on an international level since 2013 and becoming the driving force behind Yoshi’s place in the modern Melee competitive scene, the community is now just celebrating his crowning accomplishment.
