i think he'd do decently considering all the new tech and obviously not being in his prime but if ppmd really wanted to start competing again i think he would do fairly well kinda like how hax came back ever since he got banned and started getting good results in tournament
The thing of PPMD is : - He was the other player beside ARMADA AND MANG0 that could win a tourament when all GODS WERE THERE - PPMD WAS THE LAST PLAYER TO WIN A TOURNAMENT with the 5 Gods + Leffen and it was on 2015 , 8 YEARS AGO - AT HIS PEAK , HE WAS UNPARALLED. He had a positive record vs everyone during the 2014 early year - His neutral was unmatch. When PPMD played it that way , he looked unotuchable - He was also the best player at the Marth ditto. PPMD 4 stock M2K's marth on FD and it was not even close. - Pretty much the main guy pushing Falco against the floaties , something that Mang0 would not bother to do - Also , he is one of the very few players that could beat both peak Armada and peak Mang0 - In addition to that , the guy got a 6 months hiatus after the summer of 2014 , cameback on Apex 2015 and won it against all odds. - STACK IT UP , STACK IT UP , STACK IT UP
@@daxmoney5011 Exactly! I say it all the time. Armada and Hbox are outstanding, no doubt. But had PPMD stayed in the game in good form, it would be a different era lol. MUCH different. Armada hated playing vs him, Mang0 got confused playing him, he's 1-1 with Leffen, Hbox struggled with him back to back, and M2k probably has the most loses to him (M2K juggled Melee and Brawl/Smash 4 so much respect to him and I get why he'd win the fewest Melee majors). PPMD was a fuckin beast....
To top it off, PP lived in a secluded area with no one near his skill level to practice with. He got good on his own by studying videos and playing on his own
It may sound a little corny, but I'm not sure I'd still be alive if it weren't for him speaking openly about his mental health issues. I was going through some tough stuff at the time and didn't open up myself until I saw him doing it. Always been a huge fan of the guy - STACK IT UP
I played Kevin for many years during this time period, I'm from NC so he came to all our locals and we used to ride with him to all the majors. I can safely say having played all of the "Gods" from this time period, as well as all the lesser sung top 20 - 50 ranked players, without a doubt in my mind, Kevin is the best from the era. His top gear is absolutely unrivaled from an intellect perspective; it was like fighting an AI generated infinite hitbox machine. His execution was virtually flawless, he took no time to warm up, and his combos were as concise or as long as he wanted them to be. I was very technical and tight at my peak, and Kevin was in a league nearly by himself, rivaled only by like peak Armada and current Zain.
So considering the amount of experience you have playing against top competition, I'm curious Why the five gods were so good compared to the rest? For example players 6-50? I have no doubt the actual answer is a combination of multiple factors, but some come into my mind Was it natural talent/adeptness to become really good at the game? Did the gods grind the game harder than everyone else? Did they practice harsher opposition and that way gained the edge? Or was their way of approach smarter, better, more analytical? Was their mental fortitude stronger, so they could keep their shit together and deal with the pressure of competing at the very highest echelons, year after year? The inner fire burnt hotter, pushing them to their best, to win time and time again?
ppmd definitely represents the golden years of smash, was a treat to follow his journey over the years in competition. Love the storytelling and accuracy in this video! however, there is a lot to be desired for me personally on how good he actually was - this part felt short compared to the history part.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you got to relive some of his glory moments! I def could have added to it, just didn’t want to botch any of his time in the competitive scene
Eh, I think the results speak for themselves (a la why he went so in depth with the history). Asking how good he was after watching this video seems rhetorical and a bit silly.
@@Chiplinked respectfully, this was more of a good recap video of his legacy. im not the only one who thought this. when you title something in such a way you expect the question to be answered but this one has room for improvement on addressing it. for someone whos watched his play over the years already, was kinda interested in seeing a deeper dive on the more analytical parts of his playstyle that sets him apart from others (can even compare it to current players)
@@sailorisa I see exactly what you’re saying. From that perspective of a deep dive of why he was so great, an analysis type video would’ve made a lot of sense in explaining that. You’re longing for that makes sense I guess I see it from one layer less further. From a perspective one step further back - he was clearly as good as he was based off his results and accolades alone which is absolutely worth explaining in a video. I think this vid is equally valuable in explaining PPMDs dominance to the average viewer who lacks understanding on how good he was from that particular framework
What I would give to go back in time and see an Evo with all gods live in person. There are sop many players I miss seeing. Crush, PPMD, M2K, Drugged Fox, PewPewU, Swedish Delight. etc.. There are so many old players I miss. Crush is probably my most missed mostly because he has just disappeared.
That’s right when I was getting into melee. I only ever saw genesis 3 live in person and it was my favorite major of all time. Was so cool to see for the first time. I miss a lot of them too
God, I love PP. He is such a good dude and used to be an absolute killer in tournament. I play Falco and Marth because of him. I was going through mental health issues around 2015 and when PP occasionally made update videos, I saw that he was describing things that I was feeling and that I was working on with my mental health coach. Love him to this day. His stream is also fun and chill to watch and playing against him is always exciting (though I get dunked on every time lol)
I remember walking past the battle of the five Gods venue as it was happening and thinking "I'll just go next year" as I was doing SXSW stuff at the time. Boy what a mistake that was.
PPMD will always be the greatest of the five gods for me, I'm Brazilian, and I'll never forget when I watched a tournament back in 2011, where I met PPMD, and I became a fan of his, following all the games he participated in, until he stops. PPMD will forever be the best Smash Bros Melee player for me! PPMD forever! "Stack it up!" (I watched this live that day, even though it was far away, I shouted this phrase too) Kevin, if you ever see this, know that you had a fan in Brazil who always supported you, even when you said you weren't in good health and would stop, I was hoping for the best to happen to you, and I'm happy that you found a good path for you, keep it up, always great!
I really needed this video, I only started watching smash when ult came out despite being a fan since melee. To me PPMD was an enigma, and I never truly could see him fitting with the other five gods, this video really helped put into perspective how good he was. Thanks! The spark might be gone to create another one but I truly believe if, the community wished for it, this year we could crown the new 5 gods of melee. I understand the complex feelings with both Mango and Hbox still competing so I am not exactly advocating for it but... I would not mind the idea of the a storyline with Cody, Jmook, Zain, and Amsa rising to such status with hopefully Mango and Hbox still with them
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I wanted to make it for a lot of people who didn’t get to see how good he really was. I only ever saw him at one tournament (genesis 3) and I e been playing since 2014. We def will be crowing new gods absolutely. Some people said they should have crowned during leffen Plup and zains reign as well. Leff and Plup are being replaced with jmook and Cody now
Apex 2015 grand finals was my favorite Melee set when I started watching the game in 2016. You can see the moment between games where PPMD smiles and nods like he's figured something out and then takes the last set 3-0.
Really says a lot how many clips there are of PP losing a match and the opponent like Hbox looking like they dodged a bullet until they turn and see him smiling with his hand out
Love me some PPMD. I think it he came in blind, he'd have the skill level of about a top 20-top 15 player. But if he got to a good mental and physical health place, I could totally see him ending a ranking year at top 10 after just a few months of consistent tournament attendance.
I went to a north carolina local back in 2010 and had the privilege of being destroyed by his mario, although he already had a legendary falco by that point. That is a memory I cherish all these years later!
7:26 that’s a reasoning I can really get behind, I used to do the same thing on overwatch, using more aim intensive heroes when I was feeling myself/really wanted to dominate and something like mercy to get my head into the game
Its cool that before the more modern Era of Melee, we had displays of the potential of each character within the top 4 characters within the 5 gods. As well as displaying that dual maining/counter picking is absolutely a viable option. Displayed by every God except Hbox. Sure, PP's career was cut short on the precipice of a new era. But stil displaying a good showing against some of the worlds best for a few years is better than most people's entire career. So I'll always have respect for the guy.
Back in the era of the 5 gods, Hbox was the god whose status was questioned the most. No one ever questioned PP's status when mang0 and armada were only scared to play him or each other. You never knew when PP was going to pop off. Plus he basically made the modern Falco & Marth neutral games. Falco's fast-fall laser, and Zain-style dash dances are easy examples of this.
@@hibernate44 I mean when Falco does a short hop laser, and then fastfalls and lasers again. It's something most good Falcos do nowadays, and PP was the one who made it popular years ago. Same way he made the Zain-style dash dances on Marth popular.
@@JeramiJoseph Yeah I missed his early years too. People questioning his god status now has to be some of the biggest "recency bias" I've seen though... I remember by the time aMSa was playing , it was a safe bet that Armada/mang0 was going to win any major, unless PP showed up and popped off lol.
Yeah I had it as that but it performed better after it changed. I’ll probably change it back since it really leveled out. But got them all in a playlist which is good!
He’s the most inspirational and interesting to watch for me along with Hbox. PPMD is both an inspiration for people with mental health problems, and a sick as fuck player as well.
Apex 2015 was the first tourney i watched since the first ROM and got me back into the game. Melee is better with him in any capacity and im just glad he's doin his thing and enjoying himself
I remember he streamed slippi with Cody about a year or two ago. He was almost holding up with Cody. I bet he could make top 8 at a big tournament if he came back
he only had a winning average against m2k, but even just winning a few tournaments over the other gods in the era makes him a god. Plus the b2b Apex wins are amazing and there's no argument in my mind. Those apex tournaments were amazing to watch at the time.
@@Hyperion856 oh for sure. One thing I truly believe in is there never would've been people doubting falco in the puff matchup with PP around. His style worked so well on floaties, he was called the floaties slayer for a reason.
I'll 2nd that. He didn't really have any time period where he was super dominant. If he had done better in the years he won apex, I'd be more willing to put him top 5
Never seen it! Could he coincidence that it’s similar. I got it based off watching a football video and how they went over retired nfl athletes and how good they actually were
i have always wished there was some sort of consolidated timeline made for PPMD, being one of the most loved figures in the scene. i started playing just as he was on his way out competitively, so his elusive, relatively shorter and earlier impact always left me wishing i could have a better scope of the timing and intensity of his reign. seriously, thank you such much for making this video, it is great.
Very happy you enjoyed it! Really appreciate you telling me. I felt a lot of people missed out on pp and only have heard the name etc. I only ever caught the tail end of his career as well since i started in 2014. Glad to do the research on him and watch the vid come to life around him!
Adam stopped playing in 2018 and i'd say he would have to grind heavily to compete now... PPMD would stand no chance if he wasn't serious about competing, tbh. I think him and M2K are better off just making content, Kevin suffers from depression and i don't think his self-worth should come from a 20 year old game (and M2K is not happy unless he gets 1st).
2014 and 2015 don't look that far away, but man really enjoyed watching those sets. I wouldn't say it was peak melee but definitely was a great time to be an spectator!
I think the obvious testament of PPMD’s strength as a player is in him taking a game off cody in online friendlies. Sure it means little compared to tournament play and I’m certain PP wouldn’t beat Cody in a tourney, but the thing that was interesting was that he was playing in a dated play-style yet it still happened to work against one of the best players at the time. As Cody put it, “this guy’s punishes are terrible but he’s really smart.” And that’s basically the core of it. PPMD is really good at figuring out opponent habits and exploiting them. This is part of what makes him so good at neutral. Regardless of skill and meta, the strategy of getting into another player’s head remains just as effective. And he was always prepared to play opponents to high percents and finishing them off to compensate for a less than optimal punish game. So I feel like out of all the retired gods, PPMD would have fewer changes to make to his game plan to be competitive again. Having a godlike neutral just serves you much better when you’re surrounded by demons who have cracked flowcharts on the defense and on the offense.
The melee God is mang0 don't sleep on the kid. God's are eternal. All the other gods fell off. The only true God of melee is mang0. He is king and will forever be king. Cause while the others left the scene. Mang0 stayed. A God is eternal. The 5 gods right now are mango zain plup amsa and jmook
@@nickescobar6786 I’m not disagreeing with you lol. You just told me to put respect on his name. Which I did 😂 people who never saw pp live who play these days question how good he was and even if he was a melee god. My video answers, yeah he was.
I’d never heard the tag and I went with a guess since a lot of players now go by 3 letter tags like S D J, D S J, etc. guess I was wrong on this one! My b. Is it pronounced “Zif”?
I don’t hear it hahaha. I do love me some RuneScape though. My old tag before switching to my name was Scape though lol. Super cool you saw a connection though
Nope! I talk about how good he really was. A lot of new people have gotten into smash since pp was active. I wanted to show that he really was on top with all the other gods dominating back then. Some people today have questioned it which is wild
The title of your video asks a question that it doesn't answer or attempt to answer. It also doesn't say anything new that hasn't been already many times been said about PP's career.
Did you watch the whole thing? I didn’t say anything really new, as there isn’t anything new to say. He’s been retired since 2016. What else can I say that hasn’t been said? However, I was able to research and centralize that info in a hopefully entertaining way.
Every time I've heard a certain content creator (coughcoughConeycoughcough) question why Kevin was one of the 5 gods always rubbed me the wrong way. The dude was and IS a legend in Melee and was easily my favorite of them to watch play. Ty for this video.
