The newest club at UNI is calling all “Yu-Gi-Oh” players for a duel. The Dueling Panthers was officially established as a UNI organization as of last month’s NISG senate meeting.

The club will provide a place for students to test their skills in “Yu-Gi-Oh”, as well as meet more people who have a common interest in the card game. Students don’t even have to know how to play the game to join.

The founding members of the club are sophomore music education major and Keaton Hull, and freshman social science major and vice president, Jess Larison.

“Because the purpose of the organization is relatively simple and straightforward,” said Hull, who acts as the president of The Dueling Panthers. “It wasn’t very difficult to start the organization. We just had to go through the process of getting it approved by the UNI Student Government.”

Any student is free to join the organization as long as they have an open mind. All that Hull asks is that interested students have the ability to work well with others and maintain a good attitude.

“To join the club you must show up to our first meeting next semester and then to gain full membership status, you must attend multiple meetings to show interest in the organization,” Hull said.

So, what’s the story behind the name “Dueling Panthers?”

Hull says the technical term for a person who plays “Yu-Gi-Oh” is a “duelist”, and the action of playing is called dueling. The founding members also wanted to add some UNI spirit into the name, so decided to stick the mascot into it as well.

Because the club is so new, it currently has six members. However, Hull is confident that once the club starts to grow more, they won’t have any problem getting more people to join their team.

Meetings will start next semester and will be held every Tuesday at 9 p.m. to discuss upcoming events, leaving time at the end to duel each other. Hull also plans to open up Sunday as a time to potentially get together and duel as well.

Hull has big goals for the future of the club and hopes to take the members on a trip to a “Yu-Gi-Oh” tournament next year.

“I think it would be good for everyone in the organization to get closer,” Hull said.

However, Hull isn’t the only one who is excited about the implementation of Dueling Panthers.

Isaak Sund, graduate music student and treasurer of the Dueling Panthers, decided to help kick-start the club because his friends asked him to, and he thought it would be a good opportunity to get together and play a childhood game he loves.

“This club gives people the opportunity to play a popular old game, yet again,” Sund said.

If students are interested in furthering their “Yu-Gi-Oh” skills or have been wanting to learn how to play, they can contact Hull for information on how to get involved with the club.