Sodom Me Elmo repeats as campus CoD champs

The "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" Tournament was held at The Club on Nov. 8, from 5:20 – 12:20 p.m. Sponsored by Sodexo, the National, Guard, and the GameStop in Greenville, the tournament continues the tradition established by the success of 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 tournament.

The tournament coincided with the release of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" to promote the game. Similar to previous tournaments, The Club set up two replica bunkers at each end of the room, each containing four television sets hooked up to Xbox 360 consoles. Each console's output was displayed on the various wall mounted televisions around The Club. Sodexo employees were on location as well, offering free refreshments for spectators and competitors, consisting of beef and cheese nachos as well as cookies, iced tea, and water.

The tournament was started later than usual this year, opening the doors for entry into The Club at approximately 5:20 p.m., while most attendees were gathered at the front door by 4:30. The official game mode of the tournament was team deathmatch. Although the first round was timed with a five minute-limit, round two played out under the rule of first team to reach 25 kills wins. Due to time constraints however, the semifinals were put on a ten-minute time limit in order to progress the event more quickly.

The 32 four-man teams competed for a chance to win the first place prize, an official National Guard backpack which contained a new copy of the game and the limited edition "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" Xbox 360 controller. Second prize winners would receive a new copy of the game and third prize winners would receive a copies of the game played during the competition.

Raffles for other miscellaneous prizes were held at the end of every round for all attendees of the event. Amongst these prizes were the official "Modern Warfare 3" Strategy guide, the limited edition "Modern Warfare 3" controller, and a video game headset.

Amongst the competitors were the champions of 2010's "Call of Duty: Black Ops" tournament, Team Sodom Me Elmo, who were fortunate enough to practice the game before the tournament.

"A few of us have played the game already so we're going to stick together with the guys that know the map already," Team Sodom Me Elmo member Clayton Giddens said. "We've just got to keep it together and play good."

This sentiment of teamwork as a strategy has been echoed by other teams, in addition to knowing the playing field well.

"I actually went to the midnight release and played it until about four in the morning," Team Dutch Rudders member Wade Phillips said. "I'm more confident than I would be without having played it and I have a pretty strong team."

The competitors battled across numerous maps including a war torn New York City, military complexes and small neighborhoods, most of which revolved around war being on American soil. The crowd responses to the matches were mostly enthusiastic.

"It's been cool seeing all of these people get together and play a game together," spectator Chris Caulfield said. "It's fun to see everybody get together and have fun doing something."

The opinion is echoed by spectator Derick Lewis, who claims that it has been the "best event of Fall 2011."

After hours of competition the tournament built to its final round, with Team Dutch Rudders taking on the returning champions, Sodom Me Elmo, for first place and title. The final match, a single elimination round going to the first team to earn 75 kills, ultimately went to Sodom Me Elmo, comprised of Team Captain Justin Kirk and members John Herbert, Giddens, and Shayne Daniel, thus securing their position as Texas A&M University-Commerce's "Call of Duty" champions.

Sodom Me Elmo was confident from start to finish as to why they have taken first place two years in a row.

"Pretty much being better than anyone else," Kirk said. "That's pretty much how we do it."