Jimpphat: "I don't know if I will stay in MOUZ or not, but whatever happens, every choice is great for me"

"Now it's over and it feels really bad, like everything just disappeared in the blink of an eye," the Finn said of MOUZ's Major run coming to an end.

MOUZ were stopped short of reaching the final of the Perfect World Shanghai Major after falling in a three-map series to Spirit in the semi-final. A quiet showing from Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets on Nuke gave way to his redemption on Ancient and Mirage, and with it, he brought MOUZ's journey in Shanghai to a crushing end.

"It's over and it feels really bad, like everything just disappeared in the blink of an eye," a defeated Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo told HLTV after the loss. "Especially with the way we lost Mirage, it shouldn't have happened that way. Or at least, it feels really bad that it happened that way."

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Spirit reach Shanghai Major final over MOUZ

MOUZ's young team, featuring four graduates from its academy program, couldn't reach the Major's title decider and end the year with two studio LAN titles to their name, earned back-to-back in May at ESL Pro League Season 19 and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade.

Despite reaching playoffs in almost every notable LAN event they attended, MOUZ struggled to showcase their group stage level under the bright lights in arenas for a large part of the year. That narrative started to turn in recent months, a win against FURIA in Rio one of the highlights, but the team still heads into the break without lifting an arena trophy.

The team repeatedly fell just shy of that and an excellent showing from Jimpphat throughout the year put him in the sights of other organizations, with rumors of interest from the likes of Vitality and Falcons circulating before the Major. The Finn told HLTV he hasn't decided on his future yet, however, abstaining from discussions until after MOUZ's Shanghai campaign.

"I said that I don't want to talk about anything, only after the tournament," Jimpphat said. "In the current situation, I have no idea what the next year will look like for me. I don't know if there will be any change in MOUZ, if I will stay or not, but whatever happens, every choice is great for me.

"Whatever I will decide on, I will not regret it and make the best out of it."

If you cannot see the SoundCloud embed above, you can listen to the interview here.

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Commiserations on the loss, first of all. It ended 1-2 against you and you just missed out on the Major final. Can you tell me what's going through your mind right now?

It feels really bad. Especially with the way we lost Mirage, it shouldn't have happened that way. Or at least, it feels really bad that it happened that way.

We had a really good start and we were really confident coming into Mirage, especially after that Ancient because I know that we can play much better. But now it's over and it feels really bad, like everything just disappeared in the blink of an eye. Now we're here.

You all started the series off really well, wrecking donk on Nuke and overall ended the map 14-6 in openers against Spirit. Was it a focus of the game plan to just shut him down at the start of the series?

I wouldn't say that we did anything special on Nuke. Of course, we played really well and maybe it gave donk some trouble to play against us, but I'd say he maybe had a little bit of an off-game and we just played really great as a team.

But also, before the game we talked about how Spirit is the kind of team where there is only one or two players, and then the rest are not performing at such a high level like donk is.

We also knew that once we shut donk down we had a really good chance to win and we did that on Nuke, but then on the last two maps we didn't play as well so it was a bit harder and he got to do what he wanted. He punished us.

It felt like a bit of a a war between the old academy squads of the former MOUZ NXT core, and then obviously zont1x and donk from Spirit Academy. Did you have that in your heads at all, just in terms of a storyline, when going into this game? Did it feel like the academies had really graduated and now you were all playing for a Major final spot?

It was actually something where... (laughs) when we went to set up before the game, we talked about that. It's pretty ironic that everyone is here now, them from Spirit Academy and us from MOUZ NXT, and we said that we have the mental edge because in WePlay [Academy League] and small tournaments we always beat them back then.

We were just joking around about it a little bit. It's nice to see that so many players are at the level and adapting after coming from the works teams. For me it was so fun, just now that you asked about it, because we talked about it as well.

It didn't work out for you in the end and obviously, it is a sad exit. How do you feel the year went overall? siuhy in his stage interview said the word 'disappointing' three or four times, how did you feel?

The year overall went pretty good. Of course we didn't win as many trophies as we wanted, but also we knew that we are the team with the least experience when it came to the first half of the year. We usually made it confidently to the playoffs, but also at the same time — especially for next year — I'm seeking the final touch because I know that now we have the experience. We have no excuses, we can especially play on the stage, it's not about that anymore.

I just hope that we can bring the best game and show it, especially in the semi-final and finals because next year we really want to look for some trophies, more than we did this year. I see this year as more of a learning process for the team. In the end, especially if I now have to look at it, it's a good year and next year we will make it a better one.

You say 'we' will make it a better one. Before the Major there were some rumors about whether you were going to stay in the team or not in 2025, is that the plan for you then?

I cannot really say much because also for myself, I said that I don't want to talk about anything, only after the tournament. In the current situation, I have no idea what the next year will look like for me. I don't know if there will be any change in MOUZ, if I will stay or not, but whatever happens, every choice is great for me.

Whatever I will decide on, I will not regret it and make the best out of it. I'm just really happy to be here at the moment.

When I interviewed EliGE after Complexity was eliminated he said he'd 'do whatever it takes to make sure [he's] in a position to win in 2025.' Do you feel the same?

For sure I do. For now, at least individually, I have all of the tools to win next year. I know how it feels to play, I know my level, I know what I should improve on inside and outside of the server, mentally.

Also, everyone in MOUZ knows what we should evolve and improve on, but first of all we'll just go for a nice vacation, take some time off, I think that will be good for us. Next year we will start off with Katowice and I think we're already looking to win that because there are no excuses not to win it.

Lastly, when it comes to these end-of-season periods, there are always teams looking to make changes. MOUZ have historically been one of those feeder teams that someone like FaZe picks from, so how do you think the team will withstand that pressure this time around?

If I had to say how we did until now, then I would say we did really well because we never spoke about it in the team, we never talked about it. Of course, people knew that maybe after the year there would be some changes, maybe someone would leave, who knows, but everyone still played their hearts out. It didn't matter what would happen after the year because they just wanted the same goal. Everyone just wanted to win the Major and see in the next year what would happen. People did really well, me included.