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It’s a joke that has become commonplace in Counter-Strike 2, but all good jokes come from some form of truth, and that has perhaps never been more true than with this one: One more star might be just what Team Falcons needs.
Falcons, though hated for it, have made a commitment in esports: They will dominate every game they play, by signing the flashiest players that esport has to offer. Their back-to-back Esports World Cup Club Championships are a testament to that, and they are just inches away from adding another game to their dominance in Counter-Strike.
Of course, the fact that will come in the form of another star will turn them into a laughing stock, but “one more star” has become an abundant need, and Falcons won’t consistently win trophies without one.
An Unbalanced Roster
Even though they already possessed Nikola “NiKo” Kovac, no one could criticize Falcons for the signing of Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin. Players like him, who are destined for greatness, don’t come around all too often, and his willingness to leave Spirit to escape the shadow of Danil “donk” Kryshkovets made him the perfect signing.
The signing of kyousuke did create a problem, though. Falcons didn’t just possess one aggressive player already in NiKo; they also had Rene “TeSeS” Madsen, and although NiKo might be good enough to adapt to the uncomfortable roles the Kyousuke addition put him in, TeSeS is not.
The rating hit TeSeS took following Kyousuke’s arrival was brutal. In the first half of the year, the Dane established himself as a reliable figure for the Saudi org, recording a respectable 1.07 rating and a 1.15 on the T side alone. In the second half, that rating tanked, falling to 0.95 (the lowest on the team), while the T side fell to 0.93.
In order to fit their new star into their system, both TeSeS and NiKo made sacrifices, but those sacrifices were simply too great for the former. TeSeS, unlike NiKo, has never been a versatile player. He’s a player who requires comfort, who can shine when allowed to flourish with his natural playstyle, but that natural playstyle is now strangled out of necessity, creating a hard anchor for his team’s chances of success.
Jimpphat: An Easy Fix
Fortunately for Falcons, fixing the problem is actually quite easy: they just need greater role balance. Having no natural passive player on your team is a problem, and in a world where Lotan “Spinx” Giladi, Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato, and Robin “ropz” Kool all shine for MOUZ, FURIA, and Vitality, respectively, it’s also a necessity.
The obvious solution to the issue, then, is the other passive player on MOUZ: Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo. A potential move for the Finn was rumoured heavily in the off-season, with Falcons the likely destination, and Vitality IGL Dan “apEX” Madesclaire even effectively confirmed this in an interview at IEM Krakow.
Jimpphat is one of the best passive players in CS, and recorded a 1.17 rating in 2024. He also specialises in anchoring the smaller bombsites, a role that TeSeS is tasked with on multiple maps. It’s no surprise he wants out of MOUZ, either, considering his rating fell all the way to 1.04 in 2025 following the arrival of Spinx.
It’s a move that just makes sense. Jimpphat understandably wants to shine again, and he would be able to do so on Falcons. In Jimpphat, Falcons would also get an incredibly composed player who is more used to doing what they would be asking him to do than TeSeS is, which might also help them avoid their embarrassing round losses.
Until Falcons make a change, it’s hard to see them ever truly being successful in CS. They will undoubtedly win a trophy – their firepower is too great not to – but standing a chance at toppling the dominance of Vitality? That’s going to take much more than they currently possess.
