Jimpphat: "I wanted to raise the bar; it was a disappointment to see I haven't played the best"

Jimpphat commented on his lacking form in 2025 and learnings from MOUZ's crashout against Falcons in the IEM Melbourne semi-finals.

MOUZ are coming off of a tough exit from IEM Melbourne, where after an immaculate group stage performance the team pulled a disappearance act in a semi-final matchup against Falcons.

The team has returned to competition just a few days later at BLAST Rivals, where they survived the opening match against paiN, which ended on a 13-0 Dust2 decider after a competitive affair.

Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo stopped by HLTV's microphone following the result to talk about learnings from the Melbourne semi-final loss to Falcons, where MOUZ only won nine rounds over two maps.

"We were just not present at all, which was really sad," the Finn told HLTV. "There were some key takeaways for sure for us, especially when we play on stage and then for individuals as well. I didn't have the best game and for a couple more as well, we just disappeared."

Jimpphat also commented on his recent form in general, which has taken a dip from the previous year, in which the Finn was named the 17th-best player.

"At the start of the year I didn't have the best results, so I had to reflect on myself because I always want to be better and better," he said. "Coming into this year I really wanted to raise the bar, and it was kind of a disappointment to see that from the start of the year to this point I haven't played the best."

You can watch the interview in full on YouTube, listen to the audio version on Spotify, or read the transcript below.

Jimi, congratulations on the first win here at BLAST Rivals. It looked like it was getting close after the first two maps and then you just got the job done, tell me about it.

The first game is never easy, we always have some problems in the first game of the tournament. This time we also knew it will not be easy, we let it be a little bit sloppy. I think on the first two maps, as I said, we were just not really sharp. Even though we had really good preparation, we read them very well, still we cannot get things done for some reason. I'm not really sure why because it's always like this in the first game of the tournament.

Then on Dust2, we had a guess that they didn't really practice it much. I'm not sure they practiced any because they just made the new roster change with dgt coming in. We were just really confident in our Dust2 as well because recently we played a really good Dust2. It went really well.

Date	Matches
BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 1
30/04/2025	MOUZ Finished 2:1 paiN	Match

You're coming in fairly quickly after IEM Melbourne. It's only been a few days since you guys went out in a bad way in that Falcons game. How did you approach trying to reset from such a loss in the semi-final?

The game in Melbourne against Falcons was definitely a disappointment because we really didn't show up at all. Of course they made a really good roster change with m0NESY coming in, but before that we beat them many times.

Somehow Saturday we were just not present at all, which was really sad. After Melbourne, of course we didn't really have much time, we just arrived yesterday, the jetlag is still hitting a little bit, but I know that is the same for every team, nobody really had any advantage at the moment. We just need to make the best out of it and keep doing our routines and just play with it.

What was the talk like after that game? Did you just put it down to everybody disappearing individually, or what did you learn from that?

There was a lot of stuff we took out of the talk after the game. It was like a two-hour talk we had. Of course, not all of it was only negative stuff, we had a lot of positive stuff during the tournament, but there were some key takeaways for sure for us, especially when we play on the stage and then for individuals as well.

For me, I didn't have the best game and for a couple more as well, we just disappeared. We talked about it as a team and we found some key takeaways, and we will just deal with them and see how it goes.

There were rumors that you had an offer on the table from Falcons. What do you think about them now? The year so far has looked a bit like you guys and Vitality have been going at it with Spirit in the mix, do Falcons now feel like they've joined that group of elite teams?

I think it's a little bit hard to say for me because they just made the roster change. So far it's looking really good, of course, they're playing really good CS and also they played a really good final against Vitality.

For me it's all about if they can keep it up consistently, but I also think they have a really solid team right now. They're really great pieces with NiKo and m0NESY reunited. Whenever they were in G2, they were a really good team, of course. They're doing really good and the roster is really solid, and I think we just need to give them time and see where it takes them.

I wanted to ask about you, finally. It's quite clear there's been a step down from you individually. You've commented on it before that it's not down to roles, since it's not changed that much since you've had Spinx come into the roster. What do you think that's down to?

This year overall, it has been a little bit different for me. At the start of the year I didn't have the best results, so I had to reflect on myself about how I want to go forward from now on because I always want to be better and better. Last year was great success for me in a way that it was the first full year in tier one, and before coming into this year I really wanted to raise the bar, and it was kind of a disappointment to see that from the start of the year to this point I haven't played the best.

I know it's still really early, but I'm really working hard to improve my individual skill with a lot of stuff. I'm trying out a lot of new stuff, as well, not in CS but outside of CS, many different things, and right now I just kinda enjoy the part of working. Last year when I joined MOUZ it came off easy to join the tier-one, in CS:GO especially, but I feel in CS2 it changed a little bit and for my roles, and now still I'm just dealing with the cards I've been given and that's what I'm doing right now.