A new gamers’ club has been created! For those of you that play League of Legends, this is your club, it is called the UNCW Summoner Club.  If you do not know what League is, you best look into it because it is a really fun game and it’s FREE to play.  League of Legends is usually described as a real-time strategy game, but it is also known as a MOBA, or multi-online battle arena.  The game involves using teamwork and communication to take over the other team’s nexus, which is like a home base.  League has two different types of player-versus-player games, which include the classis 5v5, and the less popular 3v3.  In the 5v5 game, the map has three different lanes, and two people go to the top, and two people go to the bottom, with one person in the middle.  Based on which lane you want to start in, there are specific types of “champions,” the characters that are used in the game, to choose from.  The roles include, AD carry (attack damage), AP (ability power), jungler, tank, and support.  The goal of the game is to take down turrets (like a guard tower that can hurt you) and get to the nexus and destroy it.  All the while, having team battles against the opponents that are trying to take down your turrets and beat you.  The most important thing about League is to not die as much as possible.  By dying, you are aiding the enemy team because they get money for killing you, which allows them to buy better items quickly. 

This club has taken months to be correctly approved and acceptable, and it still needs to be made into an official chapter of the Riot Collegiate League groups.  Riot is the name of the game developer and publisher organization that created League of Legends.  As far as the actual creation of the club, the guys in charge originally had the idea back at the end of August.  The legal paperwork was very strenuous to complete and took three months to be completed and approved.  It was officially school-approved around Christmas break, but the constitution had to be written after that.  It took around three more months to correctly complete the constitution and to have it approved.  The original people that started the club were Josh Coburn, now the president, and Matt Simpson, the vice president.  The other positions are open, and there will When I interviewed Matt after the first meeting, he told me that despite the extremely lengthy process of creating the club, “CAIC was really supportive and friendly, and they wanted the club to be created correctly, which is why it took some time.”  As far as the fun parts of playing League, I asked Josh, and he said it’s fun because of the “fun, tide-turning points in a game, such as stealing Baron from the opposite team, and then getting multi-kills and winning.”  For those that don’t know, Baron Nashor is a “monster” on the map in a League game, and when your team kills it you receive extra attack speed, health and mana regen (mana is the name for power used by AP champs), an attack damage and ability power buff, experience and gold. 

As far as becoming directly affiliated with Riot, Josh has plans to have that done.  The only thing holding that back right now is the club needing to have a school faculty member club advisor that contacts Riot and does even more official paperwork, so Riot knows the club is okay with the school and not just some small thrown-together group.  Josh also said he contacted Riot directly to double-check that having the Summoner Club was acceptable, and they said yes and were very friendly and sent him an official email saying he was good to go with the club. 

For next year, Josh and Matt are planning to organize some League tournaments.  East Carolina University has hosted a tournament, and it’s high time UNCW hops on the League boat.  The first meeting was quite successful, with a little over twenty people that showed up.  Josh had advertised the meeting with 80 flyers around residential housing, and about 27 flyers in academic buildings.  CAIC also had 80 flyers that they post eventually.  Just one final note about the Summoners Club, it is open to everyone! If you are a new player, you will be welcomed.  If you are a seasoned player, there are many other seasoned players that you can meet and play with.  This is a no-stress club that is meant for people to have fun, make friends, and work together.  Come out and play League!