Owen Turtenwald
Encyclopedia
Owen Turtenwald is a professional Magic: The Gathering
player. He has achieved a number of accolades during his career including the 2010 Vintage World Championship and the 2011 Player of the Year.
, Owen made his first Top 8 and reached the finals of Grand Prix Columbus, which was contested in the Legacy format. In 2008, Owen would make the Top 8 of the Vintage World Championship. At Gen Con
2010, Owen won the 2010 Vintage World Championship defeating Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals.
Despite reaching the finals of Grand Prix Washington DC in the 2010 season
, Owen claims he considered quitting as he did not feel he was receiving enough reward for his effort. However, he was persuaded to keep playing the game by an offer to join the ChannelFireball team. As of 2011, Owen writes articles, under the title 'Owen's A Win', and makes draft videos for ChannelFireball.com.
In the 2011 season
, Owen would make seven Grand Prix Top 8s, an unprecedented number for a single season. Owen would make Top 8s in Grand Prix in a wide variety of formats including Standard, Extended, Legacy and Limited. However, Owen failed to win any of the Grand Prix that he made the Top 8 of, a fact that was very disappointing to him. Owen's success would cause him to hold the lead in the 2011 Player of the Year race for the majority of the season and going into the final event of the year, the 2011 World Championship. On the final day of the World Championship, three players could take the Player of the Year title from Owen. These players were Luis Scott-Vargas
, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
and Josh Utter-Leyton, all of whom were also Owen's teammates as part of the ChannelFireball team. Owen noted a sense of conflict in wanting his friends to do well, but also needing them to lose if he was to take the Player of the Year title. Fortunately for Owen, those three players would lose their quarterfinal matchups and Owen would win the 2011 Player of the Year title. In doing so Owen became the first Player of the Year to not have made a Pro Tour Top 8 in the season they won the title. Also, with plans to retire the Player of the Year title in 2012, Owen can be considered the last Player of the Year.
Turtenwald holds the record for most Grand Prix Top 8 appearances (10) without a win.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
player. He has achieved a number of accolades during his career including the 2010 Vintage World Championship and the 2011 Player of the Year.
Magic: The Gathering
Owen Turtenwald first came to prominence playing the eternal formats, Vintage and Legacy. In the 2007 seasonMagic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2007
The 2007 Pro Tour season was the twelfth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 9 February 2007 the season began with Pro Tour Geneva. It ended on 9 December 2007 with the conclusion of the 2007 World Championship in New York. The season consisted of 16 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in...
, Owen made his first Top 8 and reached the finals of Grand Prix Columbus, which was contested in the Legacy format. In 2008, Owen would make the Top 8 of the Vintage World Championship. At Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
2010, Owen won the 2010 Vintage World Championship defeating Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals.
Despite reaching the finals of Grand Prix Washington DC in the 2010 season
Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2010
The 2010 Pro Tour season was the fifteenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 13 February 2010 with Grand Prix Oakland, and ended on 12 December 2010 with the conclusion of the 2010 World Championship in Chiba, Japan. The season consisted of eighteen Grand Prixs, and four Pro...
, Owen claims he considered quitting as he did not feel he was receiving enough reward for his effort. However, he was persuaded to keep playing the game by an offer to join the ChannelFireball team. As of 2011, Owen writes articles, under the title 'Owen's A Win', and makes draft videos for ChannelFireball.com.
In the 2011 season
Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2011
The 2011 Pro Tour season was the sixteenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 22 January 2011 with Grand Prix Atlanta, and ended on 20 November 2011 with the conclusion of the 2011 World Championship in San Francisco...
, Owen would make seven Grand Prix Top 8s, an unprecedented number for a single season. Owen would make Top 8s in Grand Prix in a wide variety of formats including Standard, Extended, Legacy and Limited. However, Owen failed to win any of the Grand Prix that he made the Top 8 of, a fact that was very disappointing to him. Owen's success would cause him to hold the lead in the 2011 Player of the Year race for the majority of the season and going into the final event of the year, the 2011 World Championship. On the final day of the World Championship, three players could take the Player of the Year title from Owen. These players were Luis Scott-Vargas
Luis Scott-Vargas
Luis Scott-Vargas is a professional Magic: the Gathering player from Oakland, CA, USA. His accomplishments include 7 Grand Prix top 8's , and 5 Pro Tour top 8's . As well as being a prominent player of the game, Luis is also known for writing about the game...
, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa is a Brazilian Magic: The Gathering player. He is the first South American player to have seven Pro Tour top 8s. In 2011, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa became the youngest player to ever reach 300 lifetime Pro Points.- Career :Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa began his professional...
and Josh Utter-Leyton, all of whom were also Owen's teammates as part of the ChannelFireball team. Owen noted a sense of conflict in wanting his friends to do well, but also needing them to lose if he was to take the Player of the Year title. Fortunately for Owen, those three players would lose their quarterfinal matchups and Owen would win the 2011 Player of the Year title. In doing so Owen became the first Player of the Year to not have made a Pro Tour Top 8 in the season they won the title. Also, with plans to retire the Player of the Year title in 2012, Owen can be considered the last Player of the Year.
Turtenwald holds the record for most Grand Prix Top 8 appearances (10) without a win.