esports
PPMD has taken the road less traveled in Melee — but it’s led him all the way to the top.
Every top player in the world of Melee has their own story. Some have played since they were little, beating their friends and graduating to the big time. Others have picked up the game recently, learning it as the competitive game Smashers know and love today. But in some cases, the story is so unique that it just can't be classified.
Kevin "PPMD" Nanney's rise to fame is one such story. From playing endless sets with his younger brother to winning the largest Melee tournament of all time, PPMD has had an interesting run — and one of the most successful of all time.
Practice makes perfect
PPMD didn’t start his career like an average tournament player. Instead of constant play sessions with his friends, he started out practicing — and practicing hard. “I spent more time than anyone else I can think of just recording matches versus my brother on my VCR, uploading it to my computer, and watching it for hours. When I came up with new ideas, I would either write them down or spend a ton of time visualizing them so they would be stuck with me.”
Because he lived in North Carolina, a state not known for its Melee scene, he didn’t have many people to compete with. It didn’t stop him from rigorously training and improving, though. Most players talk about the importance of playing against all types of different opponents, but for PPMD, a single sparring partner and his recording setup were enough. “
My start with the game also was done largely on my own. I did it because I had no other choice. Once the online community told me I could learn watching videos and I couldn't play different people much, I decided to use videos to improve and loved it.”
PPMD doesn’t believe that his now-renowned analytical mindset was a natural occurrence. Instead, he believes his hard work practicing and watching his early matches got him to where he is today.
“I don't really believe in talent,” he says. “I believe in some advantages you may or may not get early on as well as work ethic. I think I had some advantages earlier in life but one of them wasn't really talent/intelligence so much as a huge curiosity. Fortunately, curiosity makes people extremely motivated and work hard to learn.”
PPMD’s work ethic was, and still is, unprecedented for a Melee rookie. At the time, he was just a kid enjoying his favorite game — but without competition, mentoring, or even a tournament scene, PPMD practiced like a professional.
"The Player Formerly Known as Dr. PeePee"
Soon enough, PPMD was ready to take on his first tournament. But what good is a player without a tag? At the time, Nanney had no gamertag, so he decided to go with a funny one. Of course he wasn’t going to win, he thought, so why not get a laugh or two?
“In seventh grade, a funny friend tore me up after I spilled orange juice on my pants. One of the things he called me that was so funny was Dr. PeePee. When I was going to my first tournament years later, I still hadn't chosen a tag. I had it between Hot Fuzz and Dr. PeePee, but people thought Dr. PeePee was funnier so I went with that!”
At the time, Nanney didn’t know how well he would do, so a silly tag suited him — or so he thought. The results of the tournament, however, spoke very differently. “When I went to my first tournament, I got fourth with many of the best players in the state there.” Hanging on by the skin of his teeth, he ran through the majority of the players at the tournament — but to hear him tell it, it was a struggle all the way through. “I lost in the first round and nearly lost every match I played in losers bracket so it could have been a very different story!”
After the tournament, Nanney was ecstatic. He had always been a hard worker, but this was different — his perseverance had paid off. That feeling of satisfaction still sits with him to this day. “I have worked really hard on running, reading, school, soccer ... and I never got as good at those things as I did at Melee. This is my first time being good at something, and my effort all paid off very directly.”
But always the humble one, he feels it’s important to give credit where credit is due, first and foremost to his training partner and younger brother, an up-and-coming player named Twitch. “I am extremely proud of [my little brother’s] improvement in recent times. He was one hit away from making bracket with a horrible seed at Apex 2015, and then he double eliminated Colbol at a big N.C. tournament last month. I've loved playing with him a lot and really like how he's progressing.”
Nanney also is thankful for his online roots — the community who taught him how to learn. “I'm also going to give lots of credit to the online community for giving me improvement ideas because I didn't have lots of people to ask how to get better at the other stuff I worked hard at.”
A meteoric rise
As he continued to improve under the name Dr. PeePee, Nanney quickly rose up the Melee ranks — but he did it very quietly. “Part of the issue was that I lived in North Carolina, so it was hard to gauge my skill level when I was beating players who have not made bracket at majors typically.”
He improved fast — after 18 months, he was the best in his state. But he wasn’t happy with being the best in North Carolina — he wanted more. “I began traveling. I got beaten up by lots of extremely talented players, and then began defeating them by the end of the year. … Minus Hungrybox who mauled me every time I traveled or went to a big North Carolina tournament that year.” After that first year, however, he truly was at the pinnacle of the game, beating every top player over the course of 2010-2011. “People called it a 'meteoric rise' to the top because I suddenly just beat everyone in that span of time and was considered the best player for a short while afterward.”
PPMD
For several years, Kevin “Dr. PeePee” Nanney competed at an elite level, winning several tournaments including a high-profile victory at Apex 2014. The summer after that win would come to be one of the most important times for Melee: "The Summer of Smash." During that summer, Nanney was offered a sponsorship by one of the most respected eSports companies in the industry, Evil Geniuses. He accepted, coming out the other side with a retooled name — PPMD — and a team that was ready to help him achieve at the highest level.
It’s no secret that he loves the support, either. “EG is a terrific organization full of wonderfully helpful people I'm delighted to work with. It's like you get to partner with people who all help one another, and on my end I get a great group of individuals who are always in my corner personally. That sort of thing is fantastic when you're a top player and feel kind of isolated from those around you for being different. I am truly thankful to be with EG.”
During that summer, PPMD performed very well, taking fourth at both MLG Anaheim and EVO 2014. But after that, he suddenly took a long break from competition — something that he didn’t want, but felt was necessary. “I had built up a ton of negativity over a long period of time and had developed an incredibly severe depression as a result. I knew after EVO I needed to take time to make peace with those feelings no matter how long it took. I needed to keep my stress low and get my mind right.”
Nanney removed himself from the game for nearly half a year, only occasionally reappearing at local tournaments, but he believes that time off was exactly what he needed. “I have done lots of maturing and honest self-talk in that time, which still continues even now.”
The payoff
I think most people would say it worked out pretty well — he did win Apex 2015, after all.
Apex 2015 was PPMD’s first big tournament back on the scene, and he played some of the best Melee ever recorded that weekend. PPMD ran rampant through pools and the final bracket without dropping a single set until winners finals. In finals, he and Armada waged a fierce two-set battle, but PPMD eventually came out on top, losing the first set but winning the second in dominant fashion, with a 3-0 rout.
Watching his matches on VGBootcamp, it’s clear to see that he played with awareness, poise and, most important, positive emotion. While he’s been less active than most top players since Apex ended, he’s proved that no matter how often he shows up to play, he will always be a threat to win.
Here to help
PPMD sees himself staying in the scene for as long as possible, but while his competitiveness does drive him, he has another goal as well: helping people. “I'd love to find a way to motivate people. I care very much about making people happy and seeing dedication in others is so wonderful!” To him, eSports is not a way to make a living as much as a new way of life, for himself and others.
“I think the whole eSports field is expanding rapidly, so I intend to find out what other opportunities beyond playing may exist if or when I don't want to do that full time anymore. Getting a foothold in this new sports world is exciting and a chance for me to help other inspired and skilled players to really cultivate themselves.”
While PPMD didn’t know it at the time, his early adopted moniker of "doctor" fits him to a T. He’s a researcher who improved his own game through video study and experimentation. He has impeccable diagnoses: the precision with which he can pick apart a player’s intentions is astounding. But maybe most important of all is that PPMD is ready to help at a moment’s notice. For those who look to follow in his footsteps, PPMD will be there with a helping hand — and for that, Kevin Nanney truly is the Good Doctor of Melee.
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