Ma Jae-yoon (), known by the pseudonym sAviOr (previously IPXZerg), and dubbed "The Maestro", is a former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

e-sports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

gamer of the

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...

game ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance amon ...

''. He played the

Zerg The Zerg are a fictional race of insectoid aliens obsessed with assimilating other races into their swarm in pursuit of genetic perfection, and the overriding antagonists for much of the ''StarCraft'' franchise. Unlike the fictional universe's ...

race and was one of the most successful and popular players of all time. Savior was one of several players implicated in the 2010 match fixing scandal, and as a result he was banned from KeSPA-run competition for life. After retiring as a pro-gamer, sAviOr began streaming on AfreecaTV, but AfreecaTV made the decision to ban several players implicated in match-fixing offenses from the platform, including sAviOr. Ma Jae-yoon was a member of

CJ Entus OGN Entus was a South Korean esports organization . It formerly had teams competing in ''League of Legends'', ''StarCraft II'', ''Warcraft 3'',''Clash Royale'', ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'' and ''Special Force 2''. OGN Entus was establishe ...

, a professional '' StarCraft: Brood War'' e-sports team sponsored by

CJ CGV CJ CGV (; trade name, d/b/a CGV Cinemas) is the largest multiplex (movie theater), multiplex cinema chain in South Korea and also has branches in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States. The fifth largest Multiplex (movie ...

, an entertainment subsidiary of the

CJ Corporation CJ Corporation (), doing business as CJ Group () or simply CJ, is a South Korean conglomerate holding company, operating internationally. It is one of the largest chaebol headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous businesses in ...

Career

Ma Jae-yoon has been rated first in the Korean e-Sports Player's Association (KeSPA) ratings nine times. sAviOr is widely considered to have been the most dominant professional ''Brood War'' player of 2006. He has won three MSLs (

MBCGame MBC Game (Korean: MBC 게임, 엠비씨 게임) was a South Korean specialty television channel owned by MBC Plus Media. The channel primarily broadcast's programming related to video games, but it, along with its competitor Ongamenet, was well ...

Starleague) and one OSL (

Ongamenet OGN (formerly known as Ongamenet) is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly ''StarCraft'', ''Starcraft II'', ''League of Legends'', and Overwatch. OGN ran ...

Starleague). However, these records no longer stand as they were expunged with his ban from competition.

Decline

During the 2007–2008 seasons Ma Jae-yoon lost several important matches. He especially faltered in the latest season of matches, where he was eliminated in the first round of both the MSL and the OSL with a total record of 0–5. One theory of his decline in performance during this time is that he was devastated and never recovered from his 0–3 loss to

Kim Taek-Yong Kim Taek-yong, known by his screen name Bisu hield'' or simply Bisu, is a South Korean professional ''StarCraft'' player, playing the Protoss race. Famed primarily for sublime performance in the ''StarCraft: Brood War'' professional competiti ...

(Bisu) in the GOM TV Season 1 MSL finals on 3 March 2007; and then later, in November 2007, he lost to Bisu again in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Ever OSL 1–2. Ma Jae-yoon was ranked 5th in the March 2008 KeSPA ranking with 1,540.5 points, he was behind

Lee Jae-Dong Lee Jae-dong (born 9 January 1990), who plays simply under the name Jaedong, is a South Korean professional '' StarCraft: Brood War'' player and former ''StarCraft II'' player, playing most recently for team Evil Geniuses prior to his StarCraft ...

(Jaedong) (2,400.3),

(Bisu) (2,302.6), Song Byung-Goo (Stork) (2,219.6), and

Lee Young-Ho Lee Young-ho (; born July 5, 1992) is a South Korean ''StarCraft: Brood War'' and ''StarCraft II'' player who played Terran for the Korean pro-gaming team KT Rolster under the alias By.FlaSh or simply Flash. He made his debut as a StarCraft: B ...

(Flash) (1,747.5). His career hit a new low when he failed to make it past the first round in the 2008 EVER OSL. He lost to the newcomer Spear, and then to his old rival, Lee Yun Yeol (NaDa). He was demoted to the CJ Entus B-team, but his improved performance following the demotion allowed him to return to CJ Entus Team A on 21 July 2008. Ma Jae-yoon went 8–1 and won the

Blizzcon 2008 BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', ''Diablo (series), Diablo'', ''Hearthstone (video game), Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and '' ...

tournament by defeating Nada 2–0 in the finals. Afterwards, in an interview, he stated that he "will destroyed everyone in 2009". In September 2009, Ma Jae-yoon gave an interview that said he had finally gotten over his mental state, and is quoted to be saying "Look forward to my StarLeague win". He has since been shown in the proleague each matchup.

Match fixing scandal

On 13 April 2010, Ma was implicated in a cheating scandal involving several Korean pro gamers, illegal betting websites, and allegations of games being deliberately lost. By May, it was alleged that the "Maestro" had been a ring-leader in a scheme that saw at least 12 StarCraft matches deliberately lost and eleven pro-gamers (current and former) implicated. He was subsequently banned for life from professional competition and it has been reported that all awards and honorary achievements have been revoked. In December 2013, sAviOr competed in the Asia Brood War Championship Open in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, winning the team contest with Team Korea. KeSPA expressed disappointment that Ma was allowed to compete at a ''Brood War'' tournament despite being banned for life by the organization.

References

External links

Team Liquid Progaming Database – sAviOrArticle and interview from the Korean e-sports magazine ''esForce'' (translated)YGCLAN sAviOr interview (translated)
{{StarCraft Pro-Gaming South Korean esports players StarCraft players Living people CJ Entus players Match fixers South Korean Buddhists Year of birth missing (living people) AfreecaTV streamers