On Thursday, Nov. 19, students will square up and square off against each other in a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 tournament. Teams of two will face each other (2v2) in a single elimination bracket. The games will follow a semi-competitive circuit rule system, but anyone is allowed to enter, regardless of gaming experience.

I would be lying if I said that I am not incredibly excited for this tournament. Having won a 4v4 tourney on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, I am looking to go all of the way again. I would also be lying if I said that I am not confident that my team can.

Once word of the tourney started spreading throughout the dorms, teams began to form almost immediately, and, in natural Call of Duty fashion, the teams are already scrimmaging (scrimming), working on their strategies (strats), and, of course, trash-talking.

Kameron Chow, a senior at MSMS, is participating in all of the above.

“When I first heard about the tournament I immediately wanted to join in on the action,” said Chow. “Ever since I got into video games I wanted to show that I was one of the best.”

With a background in competitive gaming, Chow is pretty confident about his team’s chances.

“Going into the tournament I feel very comfortable with the team I am competing with. I feel that we are all very confident in our skills in the game,” he said. “Honestly I feel that my team is the best team in the tournament and that we are going to win. No other team can match the amount of teamwork and knowledge of the game that my team has.”

Other players, like Chris Slagell, a junior at MSMS, have never played in a competitive gaming tournament before, but are still keeping high hopes.

“I’ve never played in a Call of Duty tournament before and I wanted to see what it was like,” said Slagell. “I feel pretty confident in my team’s abilities, even though we are the bottom of the barrel, the underdogs. As someone very important once said, ‘Those that perform the best have the least experience’.”

Nathan Methvin, a senior at MSMS, joined the tourney just to enjoy himself.

“It’s a stress reliever and I wanted to have fun,” said Methvin.

Depending on how this tournament goes, this may be one of many tournaments/game nights at MSMS. My hope is that what happens on Thursday sets a trend.

Besides, only having one tournament to win would be pretty boring wouldn’t it?