Professional Smash Ultimate player ESAM got a little over excited when he finally managed to break his Peach duck at CEO last weekend.
Competitive gaming is no joke. Despite our parents repeatedly telling us we were wasting our lives playing video games as kids, we now live in a world where some are becoming millionaires off the back of it. Those among us who are the absolute best at certain games can monetize that skill by playing it online and competing in tournaments.
Last weekend, one of the bigger tournaments took place in the form of CEO's annual event. It was a weekend to celebrate the fighting game genre, while hosting a number of tournaments across a variety of different titles. This year, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mortal Kombat 11 made their CEO debuts. During a match on the former, Pikachu main ESAM made quite the scene.
ESAM went up against MuteAce who mains as Princess Peach. According to Game Rant, ESAM had been struggling in matches against Peach for a while, so this was a big one. As you can see from the clip below (fast forward to around the 8:00 mark) it was an incredibly close contest. After both competitors fell from the stage, ESAM managed to best his opponent, thus breaking the Peach curse.
ESAM's win was quickly followed up by a "pop off," also known as a celebration to the layman. His pop off consisted entirely of him grabbing his chair and slamming it on the stage. Not only did he clearly hit a CEO employee in the process, but the Smash pro also admitted later on Twitter that he injured his own hand too. That's not exactly good for someone who's primary occupation is gaming.
Those of you who watched the tournament will know that even though the injury might have hurt, it didn't prevent ESAM from powering through. He continued on in the tournament and wound up finishing 9th overall. Hopefully, he'll have the chance to rest up that hand now, and maybe reconsider how he pops off following future victories.