The rarest, and therefore most valuable, skins available in the game CS2 are those for knives. How can you acquire them? And which are the most expensive?
The rarest, and therefore most valuable, skins available in the game CS2 are those for knives. How can you acquire them? And which are the most expensive?
Owning a knife skin (in English knife, pl. knives) in the most popular competitive shooter Counter Strike is now almost a necessity. It does not affect gameplay, but it is more a matter of prestige or status – after all, that is often the case with expensive collectible items.
An important difference compared to cosmetic modifications (skins) of other weapons is that knife skins also change the actual model. It is not just a mere recoloring of an existing weapon, but entirely new equipment for your counter-terrorist or terrorist. The in-game models are inspired by real knives. After various operations and patches with new cases, we have today a total of 20 different types of knives and two basic ones, one for each side, which cannot be cosmetically modified and are owned by every player. The StatTrak feature on weapons counts kills made by the weapon and usually also increases the price (as weapons with StatTrak are rarer). The number of kills can be seen directly on the weapon. While for the classic firearms arsenal, StatTrak is displayed using a digital screen with digits, on knives this feature is displayed as a number engraved into the blade.
Statistics are boring, but they tell us that the higher the player’s rating, the more likely they are to use a knife in combat. It not only silently kills the enemy with one blow (to the back), but if you hold it in your hand instead of a firearm, you have increased movement speed. Therefore, you can often see people running with a knife in matches, but it is important to have quick reflexes and pull out the firearm in time.
Opening cases with skins in CS2 is a somewhat risky business. You usually need to buy a key for the vast majority of cases, and after opening, the same process follows that we might know from slot machines: there is a very small percentage chance of hitting the jackpot. In the case of cases, however, you are always guaranteed to receive at least some skin, but the cheapest ones cost just 3 cents (which compared to the price of a key €2.5 is not much). Specifically, knives (in newer cases gloves) are the coveted jackpot. The percentage probability of dropping them is 0.26 %. Some manage to get a knife from opening one case, some do not succeed even after opening a thousand cases. This rarity justifies the high price of any knife. Considering the numerical chances of a knife dropping, it is probably cheaper to buy the desired knife on the marketplace than trying to get it from a case.
The low probability of getting a knife from opening cases sets a high base price, but why do some knives cost a hundred euros and some a thousand? It is important to look at other factors that affect the appearance of the skin itself. Above we mentioned the StatTrak feature. Getting a knife with StatTrak is obviously harder (read: more expensive) than getting just the knife. The kill counter increases the value of any weapon, and it is no different for melee weapons. Another important factor is the Float of the skin. The range of this property ranges between zero and one (e.g., float 0.02). This number determines the wear of any skin (e.g., battle-worn or factory new) and also affects the appearance of the weapon model in the game. Brand new shiny skins obviously cost more than those visibly scratched, from which paint is peeling. The lower the float number, the better condition the cosmetic addition is in. An interesting fact here is that some players prefer more worn skins – it’s because of their appearance in the game, where a slightly “damaged” model of the weapon looks better than a new one. The Float itself cannot be changed or adjusted and is forever given for each skin. Doppler (or Gamma Doppler) is a type of skins that has one more important property compared to more classic modifications: Pattern (Czech pattern). It determines what type of appearance you get with Doppler. There are seven different variants: four basic phases of coloring, which can lead up to a “complete” pattern (red Ruby, blue Sapphire, green Emerald, and black Black Pearl). Here, however, price formation gets a bit complicated. Although Black Pearl is the rarest Pattern skin, the other colors are usually more expensive. Why? Here it is purely about the look and the possibility of a suitable stylish combination (e.g., color coordination with gloves). Today, the most expensive skin in the entire Counter Strike (Karambit Case Hardened Blue Gem with a price over one and a half million dollars) is made with the Case Hardened treatment. This cosmetic modification comes from the real world: it is a type of production of iron parts of weapons, which was used by the American army in the mid-nineteenth century. During this manufacturing process, blue to golden spots were created on the weapon. The same principle applies to CS2 Case Hardened skins. They have a so-called Pattern Index, which determines the position, color, and size of the spot. This range varies from 1 to 1,000. When almost completely colored in blue or gold, we speak of a Blue Gem skin or a Gold Gem skin. These are the most exclusive and expensive skins in the entire video game world. At the same time, almost every Pattern is individual – it is very difficult to find two that are the same. It may happen that in your almost perfect Ruby Doppler you will find a pixel of blue color or in your Blue Gem a piece of gold. Rejoice, because you have just hit the jackpot in a jackpot!
As mentioned above, today there are 20 different models of knives. Each of them has several different visual/color variations (Tiger Tooth, Doppler, Crimson Web, Safari Mesh…). Below you will find a list of all knives, which is sorted by the price of the vanilla (basic) skin on the official community marketplace of the Steam platform. The Kukri Knife, which was released in a new update a few days ago, may have a different place in the list in the future.
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The most expensive knife skin is priced around $1.5 million and it is the Karambit Case Hardened Blue Gem.
StatTrak is a kill counter on the weapon, counting all the kills made by the weapon across all maps.
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