By Ty Schadt, Staff Writer
The Asbury University Intramural Program will be hosting a Battle Arena Tournament on Oct. 28 with the hopes of building upon the success the event fostered last year.
The tournament will take place from 4 to 11 p.m., and features 16 teams of five players. Each team will square off with one another in a 15 minute, capture-the-flag match. Games will take place on court three in the Luce, and three flags will be positioned on each team’s respective sideof the floor. Players will then attempt to snatch their opponent’s flags, armed with NERF guns.
Despite the success of the tournament last year, intramural staff felt it could be improved upon in its second year. Clark Kendall, director of intramurals, said that last year the tournament suffered from an inconsistent and sometimes slow pace.
“It was about five minutes of fun, then another five minutes of picking up,” stated Kendall.
In an effort to create constant action, the rules have been modified to allow players to collect previously shot darts off the ground to use as ammo, eliminating the need to pause the game to clean up. In addition, players will be able to jump back into play in 30 seconds after being shot, as opposed to being completely eliminated for the rest of the round.
Another problem that has been addressed is the criteria for weaponry. “This year, it’s gonna be BYOG (bring your own gun),” said Kendall. “This will be nice because it wasn’t this way last year, and the guns players were constantly jammed up.” To create fairer play, teams will be only be allowed usage of one mega-dart gun and one automatic gun. Players will be limited to twelve darts apiece to begin a game, but as stated earlier, ammo can be reused once it’s fired.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]In an effort to create constant action, the rules have been modified to allow players to collect previously shot darts off the ground to use as ammo.[/perfectpullquote]
Advancing from the traditional style of capture-the-flag, teams will now be on the hunt for three flags as opposed to one. In order to capture a flag, a player must nab it and successfully carry it over to their side of the court.
“If a team captures all three flags before the fifteen-minute time limit is up, they win,” said Kendall. However, if the allotted time expires before a team captures every flag, whichever possesses the most wins. If the amount is equal, players can no longer comeback after they’ve been shot, and the game goes on, either until either everyone is eliminated or the remaining flags are captured.
It’s an encouraging step taken by the intramural staff in order to continue adapting and modifying rules in order to keep gameplay fun and balanced. After seeing the success of the annual “Taggers vs. Survivors” game earlier this semester, it can be reasonably assumed many Asburians will arm themselves and storm the courts on Oct. 28 to get their NERF on in what looks to be an emerging intramural fixture.
