“Carson Helfer is still in the game.” 

These shocking words were posted on the Tallwood senior assassin page during third block on May 1st, surprising many senior assassin participants. 

But what does all of this mean? What is senior assassin, and why is there so much drama surrounding it?

According to Zionte Corprew, senior class president and game director, senior assassin is “basically just a water gun fight with teams.” Tallwood seniors who wish to participate must create a team of no more than six players with a team name. Each week, each team is assigned another team, and must get a majority of the team out to move on to the next round. 

However, each week there are also immunities which prevent a player from getting out as long as it is being worn. The main strategies most players use to catch people off guard and without their immunities are to catch them early in the morning before school or late at night after work. 

Carson Helfer took advantage of the latter option. On the night of April 30th, Helfer and his team waited in the Harris Teeter parking lot for Caroline Bilello, one of their team’s rivals, to get off work. It was at this time that Christian Ortega, Helfer’s other team rival, saw his target.

Ortega’s plan was to ambush Helfer during his stake out while he was unprepared and didn’t have his immunity goggles on. Ortega and his teammate hid behind a car and ran after Helfer, shooting him with a water gun. 

According to Helfer, he pulled his immunity goggles down mere milliseconds before the water hit him. But Ortega claims that the video evidence provided says the opposite, and Helfer’s goggles were not on at the exact moment the water hit him, but right after. 

However, the night of the attack, Ortega sent in video evidence and pictures proving the kill was valid, and the game directors posted it. Immediately after the post went up and word was out that Helfer was eliminated by Ortega, controversy began to stir from players on other teams, and even seniors who weren’t playing at all. 

As controversy grew, the Tallwood senior assassin instagram posted slow-mo evidence and screenshots backing up their claim that Helfer was indeed, eliminated. That is…until the next morning. 

Between the evening of the elimination and third block of the next day, the Tallwood senior assassin instagram page received a multitude of messages either allegedly complaining about the fairness of the elimination, asking questions, or even verbally harassing the person behind the page. And while no one knows the exact thing that prompted the game directors to make their decision, the next morning, the page posted that Helfer was back in the game and his initial elimination was voided. 

When asked about the game director’s decision to readmit Helfer back into the game, Helfer claimed, “the elimination was unfair…now that they fixed it, I feel good about it.” 

Ortega’s opinion on the issue differed greatly. When asked a similar question he stated, “I feel robbed of my elimination. My team and I worked really hard that night to secure a kill and achieved it with video evidence.”

As it would be expected, the decision to readmit Helfer back into the game caused an immense amount of drama, even more than his elimination did. And of course, Helfer and Ortega’s team were at the center of it all. 

According to Helfer, many people believe their team to be “the villains” and “cheating the system”, which has in turn, affected their relationships with other teams in the game. In other words, other teams are willing to do whatever it takes to get Helfer’s team out. On the flip side of that though, many teams are willing to help Ortega’s team however they can.

But despite all the drama and controversy, at the end of the day, senior assassin is only meant to be a fun game with a small cash prize. In the words of Maria Czyzewski, Super Splash Bros. team member, “it’s just a silly little game to have fun as seniors as we end our journeys here at Tallwood.”

So as the first round of senior assassin comes to a close and winners are announced, all Tallwood students are welcome to follow the Tallwood senior assassin instagram page @lionsassassin24 to stay updated on the latest drama and see the standings of each round.