Yup, "ez" is trash talking. And trash talking serves no useful purpose, not to mention being disrespectful to other players.
For some individuals, saying "ez" has significant meaning in their lives because it makes them feel better about themselves. A simple "gg" will suffice, but some people are determined to go that extra mile.
It's good that "ez" is now censored, but people will go to the trouble of using other variations. Just recently, there was an individual who beat me one game in spleef and he goes "easy". Then he looks at the leaderboard and goes, "oh wow, I just beat one of the best players. Easy". I get that he was just trying to give himself some sense of self-worth, but really? lol
And in another game... I joined, won the first game and the team that was there were so mad at this that they went ballistic. I win, it's like "Spleefy camper". "Spleefy noob". "Spleefy KYS". "Spleefy hacks". "Go cut yourself", etc. I lose, it's like "ez", "noob", etc. Each time I fell into the void they would say "ez". Why, I have no idea. It's not like I was the only one to fall into the void lol.
"ez" was very common, especially back in the old arcade. However, once the word was censored, it was no longer an issue.
Now people do use variations, but from my experience, it occurs infrequently. I've only seen a few people go to the trouble of doing "e z" or by typing the e and z separately. And I've only seen a few people say "easy" to me. Thus, this suggests that removing a few variations may deter some people from using it, as it would mean more of an effort on their part to find a variation that is not censored.
Hopefully, in time, the trash will be taken out. But I do believe removing some variations of "ez" will be a deterrent to some extent and thus it's a yes vote for me.
Perhaps by spreading awareness and a message on the server that trash talking is unacceptable and not welcome will clean up the rubbish even further, similar to school bullying programs at some schools. And a good way to start might be to censor "ez" variations to reduce its occurrence.