| Owen Turtenwald | |
|---|---|
| Born | West Allis, WI |
| Nationality | America |
| Pro Tour wins (Top 8) | 0 (0) |
| Grand Prix wins (Top 8) | 0 (10) |
| Lifetime Pro Points | 135[1] |
| Matches played | 1171 |
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.[2]
Owen Turtenwald first came to prominence playing the eternal formats, Vintage and Legacy. In the 2007 season, 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.[3] At Gen Con 2010, Owen won the 2010 Vintage World Championship defeating Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals.[4][5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
In the 2011 season, Owen would make seven Grand Prix Top 8s, an unprecedented number for a single season.[8] Owen would make Top 8s in Grands 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.[9] 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.[9] Fortunately for Owen, those three players would lose their quarterfinal matchups and Owen would win the 2011 Player of the Year title.[6] 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.
| Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Grand Prix | Columbus | Legacy | 19–20 May 2007 | 2 |
| 2009 | Grand Prix | Minneapolis | Sealed and Booster Draft | 13–14 November 2009 | 5 |
| 2010 | Grand Prix | Washington DC | Standard | 22–23 May 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Atlanta | Extended | 22–23 January 2011 | 8 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Denver | Sealed and Booster Draft | 19–20 February 2011 | 3 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Dallas/Fort Worth | Standard | 9–10 April 2011 | 3 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Providence | Legacy | 28–29 May 2011 | 5 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Singapore | Standard | 4–5 June 2011 | 4 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Santiago | Sealed and Booster Draft | 22–23 October 2011 | 3 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | San Diego | Sealed and Booster Draft | 12–13 November 2011 | 6 |
Last updated: 19 June 2011
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com
| Preceded by Brad Nelson |
Pro Player of the Year 2011 |
Succeeded by retired |