Announcing the Jarrod Keys Memorial $5k Pioneer MTG Event!

2025 brings some amazing new events and opportunities to the Hunter Burton Memorial Open! One of the coolest events added to the weekend is the new Magic the Gathering Pioneer $5k event (The Jarrod Keys Memorial Tournament sponsored by Common Ground Games) being held on Friday March 14^th.

Jarrod Keys Memorial Pioneer $5k (Sponsored by Common Ground Games)
Friday March 14^th, at 12:00pm
$50 Entry Fee / 64 Player Cap
1^st Place: $800, Invite to RC Minneapolis/Hartford, Championship Belt, and commemorative HBMO die
2^nd Place: $600
3^rd/4^th Place: $400
5^th/8^th Place: $300
9^th/16^th Place: $100
17^th/32^nd Place: $50
*All prizes are guaranteed

This is a special event, not just because it’s an added $5k event on the calendar, but because it is set to recognize a prominent member of the local gaming community that recently passed due to suicide. The HBMO is honored to recognize someone that meant so much to so many players.

“Jarrod Keys was a beloved member of the Common Ground Games community. Jarrod was a force of joy whose humor and zest for life was infectious. At the start of the Pandemic Jarrod had found us as he and his friends had been looking for some board games. By the time we had reopened for events, Jarrod was enthusiastically, and completely, a Magic the Gathering player.

Jarrod made friends in the community easily. He was always positive and upbeat and came to the store at least 4 nights a week. He quickly became one of those people that most everyone knew and looked forward to seeing. Some of our regulars introduced Jarrod to Pioneer, and he was hooked. He loved the larger card pool without having to know EVERY Magic card like Modern or Legacy. Soon he had his whole group of friends hooked on pioneer and pioneer was firing every week and continuing to grow.

Our Pre-release events at Common Ground Games on Friday nights are done as a big event, with a theme following the set and foods. Jarrod loved to lean into the big events and roped a bunch of the community into leaning into it as well. Having someone walk into our Outlaws of Thunder Junction in full cow print regalia including a cow print hat was astonishing. Having multiple people dressed like that made it a party.

Losing Jarrod was unexpected and left a massive hole in our community. It’s a stark reminder to always check in on your friends, as you never know how much they may be hurting. His joy was a gift to all of us and its something we never want to forget.”
– Jamison Sacks, Owner of Common Ground Games in Dallas TX

In addition to the amazing cause behind hosting this memorable $5k event, we have another great partner on this year’s HBMO that wanted to add some additional spark to such a special event. The Crew3 podcast which specializes in Pioneer Magic coverage will be onsite and doing some live coverage and events, including contributing an awesome Wrestling Championship Belt as a trophy for the winner of the event!

Why a championship belt you ask? C3W is also well known for it’s uniquely creative take on using the WWE 2k Game Engine to create Magic the Gathering Characters and have them compete in wrestling matches, complete with fantastic commentary and wrestling enthusiasm. Chris Cline, Ricky Linn, and Zack Ruckman make up fantastic episodes that we highly recommend.

Interested in finding episodes of the C3W podcast to listen to? Find them on Spotify or anywhere you consume podcasts by searching Crew3: A Pioneer Podcast.

Preregistration is available for this event on the HBMO website under the event details page.