PPMD (gamer)

PPMD garnered attention in 2009 after placing higher than Mango at Revival of Melee 2 and finishing runner up to Hungrybox. Nanney won the tournament's next incarnation in 2010. He placed 5th at Apex 2012 after losing to eventual 4th place Javier "Javi" Ruiz. Next year at Apex 2013 he placed 2nd after losing to Armada in the Grand Finals. On July 16 Nanney became sponsored by Twitch streaming channel VGBootCamp.

In 2014, Nanney won Apex 2014, the second largest tournament at the time. In June Dr. Pee Pee won SKTAR 3 beating Mew2King in the finals and automatically qualifying for MLG Anaheim 2014. He finished 4th at MLG Anaheim despite being the favorite to win.[4] Nanney was invited to the Nintendo organized Super Smash Bros. Invitational at the E3 2014 to play Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, pre-release, and received the Fan-Favorite Award.[5]

In May 2014 he left VGBootCamp and became a member of Evil Geniuses as their first Super Smash Bros. player.[6][7][8] In 2015 PPMD became a repeat Apex champion when he beat Armada after Armada forced a bracket reset.[9][10] Nanney then placed 5th in doubles at Bad Moon Rising on March 14–15, 2015, with his good friend and former rival Adam "L0zR" Jones. Nanney and Jones performed very well as a team in doubles tournaments earlier in Melee's life. Nanney competed only in doubles, and not singles, at this event.[11] He placed third at EVO 2015, only his second singles tournament of the year. He was sent to losers in a rematch with Armada and then eliminated by Hungrybox in the Losers Final.[12] Nanney won Canada Cup 2015 on October 30-November 1, 2015, over notable Samus player James "Duck" Ma.[13] He placed 5th at Smash Summit on November 5–8, 2015. On January 15–17, 2016 he got 6th at GENESIS 3.[14]

Nanney trains an hour a day on average.[15] Nanney has cited one of the reasons for his success as a player due to his ability to outplay his opponents psychologically by forcing them to make bad decisions.[16] Nanney did not play the fourth game in the Smash series competitively, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.[17]

At the Battle of the Five Gods tournament on March 17–19, 2016, Nanney won two sets and lost one in Group B of the Group Stage, qualifying for the Playoffs Group. There, Nanney won no sets and lost four, leading him to not qualify for the Finals Bracket, and finish in 10th place.[18] At this event, Nanney also participated in a recorded panel where the rest of the "Five Gods" besides Hungrybox, who was not available for the session, discussed their thoughts about each other.[19]

Nanney announced he would not be attending EVO 2016 citing health issues as the reason for this decision.[20]

On July 1, 2017, Nanney participated in the doubles tournament at Bad Moon Rising 2, competing only in doubles and teaming up with Adam "L0zR" Jones once again. Nanney decided to enter this tournament to support his friend in Jones' decidedly final tournament appearance.[21] The duo eventually finished at 4th place in the tournament, including a remarkable come-from-behind victory over Team Liquid's team of Hungrybox and Hungrybox's coach, Luis "Crunch" Rosias, in the Losers Quarterfinal.[22] This doubles participation at Bad Moon Rising 2 was Nanney's first tournament entered in over a year, and it has been his last to date.

Kevin Nanney was born in 1990.[23][24] Nanney struggled with depression over the years, which has limited his ability to travel to events and at times he has found motivation in the game difficult.[25][26] However, he is currently undergoing treatment. Nanney is a 2009 graduate of Crest High School in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.[27] He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.[7] PPMD currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. His younger brother Alex "Twitch" Nanney is also a competitive Smash player.[28]

Nanney has expressed interest in playing competitive Melee for a living.[29]

Nanney is commonly associated with the Twitch emote Kreygasm, after fellow Super Smash Bros. player Joseph "Mango" Marquez once welcomed him into his Twitch chat by saying "PPMD Kreygasm". Nanney also has his own version of the Kreygasm emote available as a subscriber-only emote on his Twitch channel, known as ppmdKreygasm, which involves Nanney personally making a Kreygasm-like expression.[30]

Nanney posted a video update on his Twitter page on December 18, 2017.[31] His next update to the public was not until December 27, 2018, in which he was interviewed by reputable Melee community leader Daniel "Tafokints" Lee.[32] Nanney then posted a new update on his Twitter page on January 18, 2019, in which he discusses his plan to return to streaming sometime between March and May 2019.[33] In this update, Nanney also discusses his plans to return to competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee sometime during 2019, hopefully close to the time he returns to streaming.[34]

Nanney began streaming on his Twitch channel once again on April 23, 2019.[35] Nanney streams most weekday afternoons, primarily of him playing Melee, practicing Melee, or analyzing recent matches between top Melee players at recent major tournaments. As of this point, Nanney has yet to enter any tournament since his return to streaming.

• PPMD on Twitter