James "Duck" Ma, a top professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player and considered to be one of the best Samus mains in the world, has joined Denial Esports as its first Smash Bros. players
Duck has been a longstanding member of the Melee community and was recently part of the Melee It On Me crew. He's currently ranked 22nd in the world from the Melee It On Me's 2015 player ranking, and he performed major upsets against Team SoloMid's William "Leffen" Hjelte and G2's Weston "Westballz" Dennis at the Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo earlier this year in Ontario, Canada. Duck also took first at Combo Breaker in May in St. Charles, Illinois.
"I decided to join Denial after talking to their COO and doing a bunch of my own independent research," Duck said in an interview with ESPN. "I've talked to the captains of their [Heroes of the Storm] team and [Rainbow Six: Siege] teams, and they're both happy with how Denial's been supporting them. This isn't a decision that I made lightly, and I'm confident I made the right one."
"We've been following the Smash community for some time now and felt now was a great chance to jump into the scene," said Ray Arsenault, COO of Denial Esports. "Like his former team [Melee it on Me], we recognized how great of a player Duck is and how much potential he has. We're very eager to see what the future holds for Duck, and we're exhilarated to be there for the ride."
Melee it On Me picked Duck up late last month, but as of his leaving, he is now considered the shortest tenured member of the crew.
"Leaving MIOM was something that I prepared myself to do when I signed up," Duck said. "I wasn't with them for very long, but they've been a great resource in educating me about esports and helping me get a great sponsor. A part of me will always be MIOM."
Although Samus might not be considered a top-tier character in Melee's current metagame, clearly the character has tons of potential, with her amazing recovery and as a defensive powerhouse. Even then, there are some matchups for Samus that can be difficult. Because of this, it's rare to see a Samus in the top eight of a major or super-major tournament.
Happy to announce that I'm joining @DenialEsports as their first smash player :D
- Denial | Duck (@ssbDuck) August 15, 2016
"My goal in this game has been to be the best since I started really competing," Duck said. "I definitely believe it's possible with Samus.
"It's a difficult road, but Samus' potential in this game hasn't been reached yet."
Much like Team Liquid's Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Duck will not drop his full-time brakes engineer job to compete in Melee.
"I currently enjoy my professional career, and I won't be transitioning to full time Smash," Duck said. "Being a part of Denial now, though, means I'll have a significantly easier time attending events, so look out for me in the future."
Denial Esports currently has teams for Halo, Smite, Heroes of the Storm and Rainbow Six. It also has had some experience in the League of Legends Champions series. Some controversy has surrounded Denial in the past, including missed payments to its Halo team and losing many of its League of Legends players to Inspire Esports last year. Duck admitted "it was concerning at first," but said "talking to the captains answered a lot of the concerns that I had about Denial's past."
Super Smash Bros. Melee has seen some big sponsorship deals this year. Otto "Silent Wolf" Bisno was picked up by Team Secret, and Johnny "S2J" Kim was picked up by Tempo Storm. There are still some top organizations that don't have any Smash players, so it will be interesting to see which team jumps in next.