Magic: The Gathering Pro Owen Turtenwald To Be Replaced in Mythic Invitational

Wizards of the Coast

The $1 million Magic; The Gathering Mythic Invitational is finally starting this Thursday, and by now, most players are in Boston readying themselves for the competition. Many of them are expressing their excitement for what's to come and have memorized the itinerary. However, there has been a last minute change to the roster that not only shook tournament participants but many fans. The Magic Esports Twitter page has announced that Hall of Famer Owen Turtenwald will no longer be participating in the Mythic Invitational at Boston's PAX East event, and the fact that they didn't provide a reason caused many Magic fans to wonder why.

"Owen Turtenwald will not be participating in the Mythic Invitational and we are replacing him with Brian David-Marshall," the Magic Esports Twitter account revealed.

This comes as a shock to the Magic community and other Mythic Invitational invitees as Turtenwald had shown his excitement at participating and even possibly winning the competition on his Twitter account.

While some speculated that the reason may be personal or health-related, former Magic pro player Marijin Lybaert tweeted that two people said that "his health is OK".

According to the Mythic Invitational brackets, Turtenwald's first opponent would be Mythic Championship I winner Autumn Burchett, and that would have been an interesting match to watch.

At the same time as this grim announcement, Magic Esports announced that Brian David-Marshall will be replacing Turtenwald in the Mythic Invitational. David-Marshall has been participating in the Magic scene for years as a writer for Wizards of the Coast as well as a commentator and judge at Grand Prix through the years. He also helped to organize Magic tournaments until this February when he ended his professional relationship with Wizards of the Coast after covering the Mythic Championship.

But that was not to be the end of David-Marshall's career in Magic, and he seems to be looking forward to the events to come. He has shared his excitement via Twitter in conjunction with the release from Magic Esports, saying:

This could be the start of a pro Magic career rather than commentating for David-Marshall, but this will not be his first appearance playing at a professional level Magic event. He played as part of the Pro Tour almost twenty years ago and went on to play in three more Pro Tours.

We are sure that David-Marshall will be able to brush off his Magic skills and be an excellent competitor in tomorrow's events as well as hope that the reason for Turtenwald's withdrawal will become known.

You can watch the Mythic Invitational live at twitch.tv/magic. You can check out the coverage details here.

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