Top 20 players of 2024: Jimpphat (17)

Jimpphat comes in 17th place of the Top 20 players of 2024 ranking by 1xBet and SkinClub off the back of plentiful award-worthy performances and exceptional consistency.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

In his first full year as a tier-one pro Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo grabs 17th place on HLTV's Top 20 Players of the Year list, making him the second member of his family to do so after his brother, Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo, was named the 13th best player of 2019.

Jimpphat's love for Counter-Strike began in a way that will be familiar to many. He first played the game whilst visiting his uncle, trying his hand at Source and Global Offensive as he made his first forays into PC gaming. Soon after, his family bought a CS-capable PC for his own home, and his passion could take hold in earnest.

CS was, however, not the game that first ignited his interest in competitive gaming. Instead it was Fortnite, a game ubiquitous among Jimpphat's generation, that got him thinking about a professional career. "When I was like 10 or 12, I thought that I would become a professional player in Fortnite," the 18-year-old admitted. "Me and my cousin played that a lot and I was ready to commit to that, as we were really good."

Fortnite is not a game that particularly lends itself to competitive play, focusing far more on the casual audience with its updates and patches, and soon there were "some changes that made that game really bad," according to Jimpphat. He was pushed back towards CS, and began the all-too-familiar FACEIT grind. It wasn't long before he got himself noticed.

"I achieved FACEIT level 10 in my first 70 matches, and I noticed that my talent is incredible," the Finn states. "After that I got approached by Finnish mix teams and I did really well, considering I was 13 or 14."

Thus Jimpphat began his competitive journey, turning out for FcottoNd and REHTI in regional competitions, both online and on LAN. Early in 2021 he joined his first proper team, IQUE, at the tender age of 14, and would spend the next year honing his skills regionally and in the lower tiers of Europe's online scene, first with IQUE, then SJ, and finally Conquer. It was a key period in his growth, and one he looks back upon with fondness.

"I really enjoyed my time in Finnish teams," Jimpphat says. "Back then I was still in school but I was always super motivated to practice and learn, because at that time I was the one who had the smallest amount of experience. Every single Finnish team I played in, I have no bad things to say. I'm super happy how I got into competitive CS in general through these teams."

Jimpphat credits a rivalry with his older brother, former ENCE star and one-time HLTV Top 20 player, sergej, for some of his motivation. "At that time he was already peaking in the Finnish scene and I was climbing through the ladders," Jimpphat begins. "I was jealous of him at that time because he was in my eyes, and in the whole Finnish scene's eyes, an incredible player. That gave me motivation and, whenever he was still an active player, one of my biggest motivators was to be better than him."

It was apparent even from his early HLTV-recorded matches that Jimpphat was a talented player. He was by far the best player on each of the Finnish lineups he played with and regularly put in hard-carry performances against higher-ranked teams.

Take this 30-bomb against Movistar Riders mid-way through 2021, or this 1.69-rated map-winning performance against MAD Lions early in 2022. In both instances his opponents were in and around the top 50, and both would go on to climb the rankings later and prove they were top-20 calibre. Jimpphat was carrying virtual no-namers against legit tier-two teams from the age of 14.

It wasn't long before the world's premier academy project, MOUZ NXT, came knocking. MOUZ NXT had already established itself as a roaring success, having claimed the title in three WePlay Academy League seasons, two of which were on LAN, and promoted Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás, Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro, and coach Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen to the main squad. The team had also enjoyed success in the tier-two online scene in Europe, going deep in events like Malta Vibes and Pinnacle Fall Series, peaking at 26th in the world ranking.

It was a no-brainer for Jimpphat to join, although he recalls experiencing some individual struggles in his early days with the academy project. "My start in MOUZ NXT was really rough. I was in new roles playing against better teams with great players alongside me, but individually I was struggling."

Despite Jimpphat's personal difficulties, the NXT project still thrived. A mere month after the Finn's arrival, MOUZ NXT made it four wins from four WePlay Academy League seasons. Jimpphat was, however, the second-lowest rated player on the squad during their title-winning campaign, posting a 1.03 rating as players like Miłosz "⁠mhL⁠" Knasiak and Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman shone.

Things took a turn for the worse for MOUZ NXT in the next WePlay Academy League season. The young squad didn't even make the playoffs as their form dropped, with the individual level of Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek in particular dropping considerably. Jimpphat had a better time of things statistically, producing a 1.07 rating, but the team around him was struggling to hit the same heights.

Mere weeks after their WePlay Academy League Season 5 run was over, MOUZ NXT blew up the roster. xertioN was promoted to the main squad, siuhy made his way to GamerLegion, and Hubert "⁠szejn⁠" Światły and mhL were dropped. A significant rebuild was in order, and Jimpphat was placed at the heart of that rebuild, which proved to be a blessing.

Players like Christoffer "⁠Chr1zN⁠" Storgaard and Bram "⁠Nexius⁠" Campana were brought into the fold to form up around Jimpphat, with Jimpphat getting to play his favoured positions once again. The difference for the Finn was night and day. MOUZ NXT bagged a top-four finish in the final iteration of WePlay Academy League, with Jimpphat's 1.28 rating dwarfing his closest teammates (0.98) and making him the second-best player in the tournament.

He became the clear star of the team, hard-carrying in the fragging department as his team grinded their way through tier-three and tier-two online events, occasionally putting together a deep run in events like CCT Europe Series.

Their peak, and Jimpphat's proudest NXT moment, came right at the end of his tenure: they won CCT North Europe Series 5, beating a raft of top 50 sides like Sprout, B8 and 500 in the process, and even taking down top 20 squad 9INE. Jimpphat was the star of it all, his 1.28-rated performance over 19 maps making him the tournament's best player. Fittingly, the tournament's final was Jimpphat's last game for the academy side before his promotion to the main team.

Midway through 2023, MOUZ were in a rut. The iteration of the squad let by Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong hadn't quite worked out despite putting together some deep runs towards the end of 2022, like top-four at IEM Rio Major, and peaking at No. 5 in the world ranking. The consistency just wasn't there, and by the time of dexter's departure, the team had slipped outside the top 10.

A rebuild was commenced, with Jimpphat coming in to replace JDC, who hadn't lived up to the performances of fellow academy graduates torzsi and xertioN, and siuhy was brought back into the fold from GamerLegion following their unbelievable exploits at BLAST.tv Paris Major, where they made an underdog run to the final. MOUZ's main team was now truly home-grown, with only David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský having not come through the academy roster, and he was still at least largely home-grown, having spent his entire tier-one career with MOUZ.

"I knew after my performance with MOUZ NXT that it was only a matter of time until I got promoted or I got to join another top tier team," Jimpphat admits. Whilst his performances in MOUZ NXT were certainly eye-catching, they were produced in different roles than he would be playing in the main team. Jimpphat wasn't worried. "I knew that I would play anchor roles again, but I had matured a little bit more as a person and my mentality had grown, so I was keen to take the challenge upon me." Never mind he would be playing a completely new calibre of opposition.

Jimpphat's introduction to tier-one play was a trial by fire. MOUZ headed to the organization's home country of Germany for IEM Cologne 2023, one of the most stacked events of the entire year. MOUZ made it through the Play-In with two straight victories, but they were given a rough wake up call in the main event, picking up a win over the freshly-rebuilt Natus Vincere before Vitality and Astralis handily disposed of them to send them home.

"Cologne was really memorable tournament for me," Jimpphat muses, despite the final result. "I didn't perform well, but during the event I realized how amazing the team I have around me is, and how much they pushed me even though I didn't play to my standards." The Finn states that, after the event, he felt "the future was already bright."

Perhaps Jimpphat might not have expected the immediate future to be so bright. MOUZ immediately bounced back after Cologne and stormed to victory at ESL Pro League Season 18, dropping their opening game before roaring back to win eight series in a row and claim the trophy.

MOUZ took down three of the top six sides in the world along the way, with Jimpphat firmly proving his quality time and time again. He led the scoreboard alongside torzsi as MOUZ took down world No. 2 ENCE in the semis, and was second only to torzsi as Natus Vincere were brushed aside in the final.

Jimpphat led the tournament in KAST (79.2%), emphasising the consistency of his contributions, and in clutches won (13), showing a cool head in tough scenarios despite his young age. The young Finn earned an EVP for his efforts in only his second-ever Big Event, and ensured the eyes of the CS world would be glued to him as he began his career in tier-one. He credits xertioN with helping him find such a strong performance so early in his MOUZ days.

"I didn't expect us to play that well on such a short notice but im really glad we did," Jimpphat reflects. "After Cologne I had some talks with xertioN and he taught me how to be more confident, and how I should face the struggles I had back then. My strength was always to wide strafe and press mouse-one, because that's just how I like to play. When I do that, I play my best."

MOUZ continued to be an elite presence as CS:GO became CS2, but consistency was lacking. They struggled a tad in online competitions like Pelaajat Nordic Masters Fall 2023 and Thunderpick World Championships, enjoyed the high of placing second at CS Asia Championships, where Jimpphat's 1.22 rating earned another EVP nod, and then struggled again against a lesser field at Elisa Masters Espoo.

The European squad's 3-4th finish at BLAST World Final to end the year perhaps encapsulated their level at the time: they were an elite side, but couldn't quite put it together on stage against the very best. FaZe ended their run in Abu Dhabi, as they also had at CS Asia Championships.

MOUZ had been seen as a budget FaZe for some time, perceived to be another European mix leaning on firepower and teamplay rather than opting for a tactics-heavy approach. Previously MOUZ had been short of challenging FaZe at the top of the CS mountain, but now a real rivalry was beginning to develop. It would be one that played out multiple times over the next year.

MOUZ had to endure what seemed on the surface a painful transfer at the start of 2024. Two-time HLTV Top 20 player frozen, who had been with MOUZ for five years, departed for FaZe. Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin, once hotly-touted but at this point seemingly spent after years in the train wreck that was Ninjas in Pyjamas, was brought in to fill the gap, a significant downgrade on paper.

Despite the apparent adversity, MOUZ picked up where they left off. They first secured a spot for PGL Major Copenhagen Europe RMR, albeit in a slightly laboured manner, before heading to IEM Katowice to kick off the year with a Super-Elite event. The team hit the ground running with Brollan amongst their number, making it to the semi-finals and confirming their status as an elite team. Jimpphat had a solid group stage showing, leading MOUZ to victory in a close fight with Cloud9 in their opener, but struggled in the semi-final bout with FaZe, as did most of his teammates.

MOUZ then stormed through their RMR with ease, with Jimpphat shining bright with a 1.22 rating, booking a spot in the Elimination Stage. There MOUZ seemed to hit peak form, going 3-0 to secure a playoff berth. Jimpphat produced some prime CS in this group stage run, putting up a 1.23 rating to help see off a stiff challenge from Eternal Fire, before utterly decimating Complexity with a 2.01 rating and 114 ADR to seal a playoff appearance.

Once again, however, Jimpphat shrunk on stage. He was a complete non-factor as G2 confidently dumped MOUZ out of the tournament, posting a 0.68 rating and measly 18 frags across two maps. Strong overall play marred by disappearing in some of the biggest games would become a theme that recurred at various points throughout Jimpphat's year.

Jimpphat admits that the occasion got to him and his teammates in Copenhagen. "We were really really confident that we would do well, because we had amazing bootcamp before the Major," Jimpphat begins. "We literally destroyed every top team during that time.

"Coming into playoffs we froze completely and didn't play up to our standards. We were really disappointed in ourselves, but also this tournament was one of first few tournaments where we had to deal with crowd."

MOUZ rebounded in impressive fashion in their very next event, IEM Chengdu. The European combine marched through the group stage with three wins on the trot, with Jimpphat leading the scoreboard in two of their three matches. This time around he showed up on stage, posting a 1.18 rating to help MOUZ avenge their Major defeat and take down G2.

MOUZ's consistent nemesis, FaZe, awaited in the final, and whilst Jimpphat was the best performer on the team, they all dropped off in another big game as FaZe eased to the title a notched another win in the growing rivalry. Still, it was a successful tournament for MOUZ, and Jimpphat's excellent fragging (1.16 kills per round win) and impact earned him an EVP nod, and a place in HLTV's Best Five for the tournament.

This grand final run kicked off a purple patch of form for MOUZ, as they won their next two events. First came ESL Pro League, a favourite stomping ground of MOUZ, and Season 19 was no different. Jimpphat provided a consistent if unspectacular presence as MOUZ stormed to the title, taking down G2 and Vitality along the way. It's worth noting that Jimpphat was the weakest MOUZ player in the final, and only posted a 0.99 playoff rating overall, a slight dampener on an otherwise successful event.

Jimpphat stepped up his individual game at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade, providing impressive round-to-round contributions throughout (as he often does) and a player-of-the-map performance on Spirit's pick of Ancient to ensure smooth sailing in the grand final, sealing a second EVP award of the year for his efforts.

"The run we had during EPL 19 and BetBoom Dacha was insane," Jimpphat opines. "I think, during that time, we showed how good we can be if we just play with some balls, and that's what we did."

MOUZ ended the first half of the year with a whimper, exiting IEM Dallas with a single series win to their name. A forgettable tournament, both for Jimpphat and the team, but it wasn't without reason. torzsi told HLTV Confirmed in the aftermath that after an "exhausting" season the team hadn't practiced in the leadup to the event.

Regardless of their exploits in Dallas, it had been a successful season for MOUZ and Jimpphat. The team had two trophies, a top-four at IEM Katowice, a playoff run at the Major, and a second-place finish at IEM Chengdu to show for their efforts, as well as a brief stint as the world's No. 1 team. Jimpphat meanwhile had two EVPs to his name, and had posted not a single event in the red.

MOUZ returned from the player break with an event that Jimpphat deemed his highlight event of the year, Esports World Cup. In Saudi Arabia, Jimpphat produced his best performance of the season. He hitched up his socks to carry MOUZ through a surprisingly tough opening round matchup with Sashi, before putting on a 1.82-rated CT-side clinic to haul the team past a resurgent FURIA.

Jimpphat also offered the stiffest resistance as they fell to Natus Vincere in the semi-finals, posting a 1.91 rating on Dust2 to put them 1-0 up in the series, before being the only player to produce a positive rating as they fell to defeat on the final map of Mirage. The Finn finished the tournament as the highest-rated player and thus added another EVP to his collection.

Next came IEM Cologne, and Jimpphat and MOUZ would make it back-to-back top-four finishes at ESL's marquee events. It was a quieter event overall for Jimpphat, but he still produced some vital contributions to his team's run. The most important was a chart-topping 1.30-rated performance against G2 in the quarter-finals, one of his best arena performances of the year. He did, however, slip into obscurity in the semi-finals against Natus Vincere, and considering the closeness of the two maps in that series, more impact from the Finn might have made a difference.

Jimpphat would earn his next EVP of the year as MOUZ returned to their favoured studio environment for BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2, but it was a mixed bag for the team overall.

Jimpphat blasted Eternal Fire to pieces with a 1.77 rating to open MOUZ's campaign, and they marched confidently on to the upper final. There, despite Jimpphat playing well, his team fell to Spirit, sending them to a lower bracket matchup with Eternal Fire. The Turkish squad managed to take MOUZ down in two maps, a considerable upset considering the team's fortunes at the time, and so although it was a stellar tournament for Jimpphat, his team will look back on their time in Belgrade with regret.

MOUZ suffered their worst event of the year in their next outing, a surprise considering it was the next season of ESL Pro League, usually a fruitful hunting ground for the squad. The entire team struggled as two losses to Complexity knocked them out of the tournament, with Jimpphat not offering much in the European side's losses. It was a tough period for Jimpphat and the team, but also important for their progression.

"That time was probably the lowest during my time in the main team," Jimpphat admits. "We had no idea what direction we wanted to go and we were fully lost. At EPL we had many many talks after bad games but we still couldn't find our ground and we were super disappointed. It looked really bad in the moment, but also I would say that it was needed for the character growth."

Rather than fold, MOUZ picked themselves up in impressive fashion by going all the way to the grand final at IEM Rio, with Jimpphat earning himself another EVP award for his contributions. The Finn led MOUZ through the tournament (1.22 rating in map wins and the four grand final maps) and stayed as cool as ever in the clutch (seven 1vsX won), but an in-form Natus Vincere proved too much and the team had to settle for second place.

In the final tournament before the Major, BLAST Premier World Final, Jimpphat endured his worst outing of the year. The Finn didn't contribute much to MOUZ's opening win over FaZe, and he was largely absent as they lost to Astralis and Vitality to exit the event. He had a particularly torrid time against Vitality, posting a 0.56 rating. It ended up being the Finn's only negative tournament rating for the entirety of 2024.

"BLAST Premier World Final kinda hit us like a Mike Tyson fist," Jimpphat admits, but he states the team didn't let it ruin their mentality. "We just shaped our mentality after that tournament so we were ready for the Major no matter what."

Once again, MOUZ and Jimpphat would show an ability to bounce back from tournament to tournament, this time at perhaps the event with the highest pressure of all, Perfect World Shanghai Major Europe RMR.

Alongside torzsi, Jimpphat rose to the occasion in a big way, not least in the qualification bout against then-world No. 1, Natus Vincere. The 18-year-old was the most consistent player on the server as MOUZ rebounded after losing their map pick, putting up 1.42 and 1.32 ratings on Dust2 and Inferno to seal his team's spot in the Elimination Stage.

Jimpphat's form suffered in the Elimination Stage. After MOUZ won their opener, Jimpphat struggled in close losses to The MongolZ and FaZe, and didn't contribute much to their series victory over 3DMAX. He was a little better against MIBR as MOUZ secured a playoff berth, but other members of his team could take much of the credit for getting MOUZ to the business end of the tournament. He still produced some highlight rounds and clutches, however, so was certainly not a liability.

Jimpphat returned to being a key factor as MOUZ kicked off their playoff campaign. With revenge against The MongolZ on the cards, it was Brollan who got MOUZ over the line on the first map of Ancient, but Nuke was all Jimpphat. The Finn went nuclear on the CT side, providing a staggering 160 ADR on his way to a 2.16 defensive rating, decisively sealing a semi-final berth at only his second-ever Major.

The semi-final against Spirit was, unfortunately, largely one to forget for Jimpphat. He offered very little in MOUZ's opening map win, nine frags to be precise, and although he produced 100 ADR on the second map, it was in a 4-13 spanking. With everything on the line on Mirage, the youngster struggled, barely posting 50 ADR and ending with the lowest rating on his team as MOUZ slipped meekly out of the tournament.

Despite making top-four, Jimpphat admits he was a little disappointed in the result. "Generally if you look at it, top four is good and all, but we really worked our asses off throughout the year just for this tournament and then we lost to Spirit in the semi-finals. It wasn't a great feeling to lose because the first map looked really good, but then we couldn't come back after the second map."

Reflecting on the year as a whole, Jimpphat is positive. "I consider this year as a success and as a big learning process. Next year is bright for us as long as we take out the stuff we learnt this year."

The Finn goes on to question the label of 'stage chokers' that is still applied to MOUZ even to this day. "I would say that at the start of the year till the middle of the year it was fair to say that we were chokers on stage because it was true. There is no way around it. But for me it's about the improvement we did regarding this, and it's beautiful to see.

"Nowadays it doesn't make any sense to say that, but still some people do. No matter what viewers say, everyone of us knows that we are not the same MOUZ that we were in first half of the year."

Why was Jimpphat the 17th best player of 2024?

Jimpphat secures the 17th spot on the Top 20 players of 2024 ranking thanks to his plentiful standout performances.

The Finn earned five Exceptionally Valuable Player nods at IEM Chengdu, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade, Esports World Cup, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2, and IEM Rio as one of the key performers in MOUZ's many deep runs this year.

His 1.12 rating for the year was among the best in the group of players around him, and he recorded these numbers thanks to his exceptional consistency (77% KAST, 2nd best) and a high map-to-map floor (68.8% maps above 1.00, 11th). He also held up at the most competitive events, with a 1.10 rating at the Majors, 1.08 at the Super-Elite events, and 1.10 at Big Events.

"It feels really good to make the list," Jimpphat said of his Top 20 accolade. "I'm happy that I did it with this team and the support I had."

For his solid statistical base, however, Jimpphat was one of the least impactful top 20 candidates, both in actual impact rating (1.02, the second lowest in the top 20) and on round wins (0.93 kills per round win, joint second-lowest).

He also struggled to keep up his numbers when the pressure was on, with a 1.03 arena rating (joint third-lowest) and a 1.00 rating against top 5 teams (third-lowest) and 1.04 against top 10 teams (joint lowest).

"I'm not even close to where I want to be," Jimpphat said in addressing his drop-off in big matches. "I would say that there are a couple of factors for my drop-off in big games.

"Firstly, I'm just not as good against the best teams in the world, at least not consistently, and it's something I need to work on. Second reason I would say is that if we don't play to our standards, I have a tough time making impact on the server in my roles, but that's fine. I don't see myself as a star player but I will for sure develop to become the best in my roles."

Bold prediction by 1xBet

Jimpphat opted for Jakub "⁠jcobbb⁠" Pietruszewski as his bold prediction. The 20-year-old Pole has impressed in recent months playing for Betclic, racking up a 1.19 average rating whilst hard-carrying his team to a couple of deep runs in lower tier online competitions.

"I think he is insane individually and he has the ability to become one of the best with time," Jimpphat says. "I really enjoy watching him play."

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and learn more about how the players were selected in our introduction article.