MOUZ are moving into the CS2 era without their young star, Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo. The young gunner is having visa issues, and MOUZ will replace him at IEM Sydney 2023 with Bram “Nexius” Campana until they are resolved.
MOUZ is heading into the CS2 era on fire following a roster they dramatically upgraded after the BLAST Paris Major. In addition to adding Jimpphat’s explosive talent, they snagged Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek, who, as the face of GamerLegion, took them to the finals of the Major, earning accolades for his fearless and fluid in-game leading style, utilizing his players to swiftly exploit every small weakness in an enemy defense.
Siuhy has had a similar effect on MOUZ. Under his guidance, they won ESL Pro League Season 18 Finals in a blistering run, and have leapt up the world rankings as a result. Jimpphat was a huge part of that push, and was praised for his clutching ability during the tournament.
While it certainly hurts to lose a player of Jimpphat’s caliber, only missing parts of IEM Sydney should be fine. There are bigger prizes on the horizon, most notably with the inaugural CS2 Major incoming. It being the first one, and everyone wants to perform. There are other high-caliber tournaments in the immediate future, too, and MOUZ are expected to be at full strength for those. Alternatively, all they have to do is tread water with Nexius until the visa issues are resolved, which could be as soon as the upcoming week, meaning Jimpphat is still within a shout of joining his team down under should they make a deep run.
IEM Sydney 2023, as a whole, looks to be plagued with high-profile absences and could be plagued with in-game bugs. S1mple will also miss the tournament, and the game itself still has some serious technical issues to work out. It’s going to be an explosive affair.
