How much can a skin be worth in Counter-Strike 2? Here are the most expensive skins you will find in CS2 right now.
Counter-Strike is a franchise with a long history. Counter-Strike 2 is the latest entry in the series, replacing the immensely popular CS:GO. Apart from the intense competitive aspect, Counter-Strike provides the alluring charm of weapon skins for players to seek after. CS2 carries over every skin its predecessor offered with improvised presentations.
Skins in Counter-Strike 2 are cosmetics for weapons. It was first introduced back in 2013, with the Arms Deal update. Since then VALVE kept adding skins as drop items with various weapon cases and collections. Players can acquire these items through timed item drops in-game or can buy directly via Steam market or trading via third-party websites.
Prices of CS2 skins can vary by a considerable margin. Some skins are affordable for a dime, whereas some can cost a fortune. Gradually, collecting skins has become beyond a hobby for CS2 players, and as a result, the market kept growing. In this article, we will take a look into how expensive CS2 skins can be nowadays.
Read More: CS:GO vs CS2 – What We Left Behind
Why Counter-Strike Skins are So Expensive?
The cost of a CS2 skin depends on several factors. There is no ultimate price tag for a skin. A skin can be worth as much as buyers want to pay. However, the price tag of skin is generally based on its rarity, float value, investment value, market condition, and hype of the game.
When skin becomes extremely rare, its cost may skyrocket. Usually, this is the case for discontinued skins. As they are hard to find, players consider them collectibles. ”Souvenir” skins are also another example. Souvenir skins are drops found in souvenir packages only during special Counter-Strike events sponsored by VALVE.
Apart from these, skins of extremely rare patterns and variations may also be tagged for an extravagant cost.
10 Most Expensive Skins in CS2
Now that you know CS2 skins can be so expensive, you may wonder how these skins may look. Here, we will list the most expensive skins that you will need to spend a fortune to buy. However, we will not be considering the super rare collector items. For example, the #1 Ak-47 Case Hardened Blue Gem was sold for $400,000 USD. However, that doesn’t mean every Case Hardened Ak-47 skin is valued that much. So, only the highest-valued variations for the regularly available skins will be listed here.
So, without any further ado, here are the most expensive available skins in CS2 right now. To make the list somewhat dramatic, we’ve listed the skins in the least expensive to most expensive order.
10. StatTrak AK-47 Fire Serpent
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 4500$+ |
| Available in | Operation Bravo Case |
| Wear | Factory New |
AK-47 Fire Serpent is one of the oldest skins in the game. It was introduced back in 2013 alongside the first operation in CS:GO. It has been part of many iconic Counter-Strike moments as professional players preferred this skin in their inventory. Nowadays, this skin has become a classic and rare one to find in any condition. So, if you want to include the StatTrak AK-47 Fire Serpent in Factory New condition, you will need to spend close to five thousand USD.
9. Butterfly Knife Lore
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 4500$+ |
| Available in | Dreams & Nightmares Case and Operation Riptide Case |
| Wear | Factory New |
The design of Butterfly Knife Lore is similar to AWP Dragon Lore skin. The butterfly knife design itself is immensely desirable among CS2 players. Combining the iconic design scheme, this knife skin has become one of the most in demand. You can find this at a lower wear value. But to acquire a Factory New one, you must pay a hefty price tag.
8. Souvenir AK-47 Gold Arabesque
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 7,000$+ |
| Available in | The 2021 Dust 2 Collection |
| Wear | Factory New |
The AK-47 Gold Arabesque is a rare item to find in the marketplace. Since Dust 2 has been removed from the map pool, the Souvenir version of this weapon doesn’t drop anymore. Adding the rarity with Souvenir value, the price of this Gold Arabesque has reached its peak point.
7. Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono/Emerald Web
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 9,000$+ |
| Available in | The Glove Case and The Operation Hydra Case |
| Wear | Factory New |
Gloves are one of the newest additions to CS2 skins. There are only 72 skin variations available, and Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono lies on the expensive side of the list. There are currently 6.6K units of the Crimson Kimono in public CS2 inventories. Some of these skins can be found in rare patterns. So, to get one Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono with one of the rare patterns in factory new condition requires luck and hence the cost.
6. AK-47 Wild Lotus
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 10,000$+ |
| Available in | The St. Marc Collection |
| Wear | Factory New |
The Wild Lotus is one of the wildest skins for an AK-47. Introducing in 2019, it is a fairly new addition to the list. However, the supply of this skin is very short. At present, there are less than 3000 Wild Lotus skins in total. Therefore, the chances of finding this skin in Factory New condition are rarer, and that’s why it is priced at more than ten thousand USD.
5. AWP Gungnir
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 10,500$+ |
| Available in | The Norse Collection |
| Wear | Factory New |
AWP Gungnir is the second most expensive AWP skin. This skin came out in 2019, and there are only around 3500 of these are in existence. Even the battle-scarred version of this skin will cost you more than 7000 USD. So if you want to find one in perfect wear and near to factory new, you will need to spend more than 10000 USD right now.
4. StatTrak M4A4 Howl
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 12,000$+ |
| Available in | Not found in any case or collection |
| Wear | Factory New |
M4A4 Howl stands as a one of a kind skins in CS2. After a controversial history, VALVE categorized this skin in ”Contraband” rarity, the only one of its kind. There is no more weapon skins in this category. Moreover, this skin doesn’t drop anymore, making the quantity fixed. Hence, you will only see an M4A4 Howl rarely in game. For its extreme rarity and one of a kind attributes it has been one of the most expensive skins to get your hands on.
3. StatTrak Crimson Web Knives
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 15,000$+ |
| Wear | Factory New |
| Float | 0.060026 |
Crimson Web is one of the oldest knife design introduced in the game. The blade is painted with black webs on a dark red base. There is an extremely slim chance of getting a factory new version of this knife. The float doesn’t go below 0.06 and Factory New is ranged till 0.07. So, it is a skin to find.
2. Sport Gloves Pandora’s Box/Vice
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 55,000$+ |
| Available in | The Glove Case and The Operation Hydra Case |
| Wear | Minimal Wear |
Among the gloves skins, the sports gloves are the most valuable. The Sport Gloves Pandora’s Box is one of them. Currently there are only 29 Factory New Pandora’s Box gloves that exist. It is nearly impossible to find one. Even the float value of these gloves skins doesn’t go below 0.06. So the closer it gets the most costly it becomes.
1. Souvenir AWP Dragon Lore
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Price | 400,000$+ |
| Available in | The Cobblestone Collection |
| Wear | Factory New |
AWP Dragon Lore is the most expensive AWP skins in CS2. Even the normal variations of this skin can cost a fortune. But when it is a Souvenir one it can cost even more. The Souvenir versions are treated like collectibles as they are dropped exclusively to commemorate a particular e-sports match. These skins features golden stickers of related teams and events. What makes it more desirable is the scarcity. There are only 114 of these in existence and there can’t be any new in recent future as Cobblestone has been removed from the map pool. Adding all of these facts make Souvenir AWP Dragon Lore in Factory New condition the most expensive regular CS2 skins you can find.
Bonus Skins
Apart from the regular weapon and gloves skins, there are more buyable items in CS2. Like the stickers or skins with exceptionally rare patterns or crafts. These items are priced so high that they deserve to be mentioned in this list.
Katowice 2014 Holo Stickers
EMS Katowice 2014 was the second major in CS:GO history and the first one to feature purchabale stickers. Now after nine years, some of these stickers are worth more than a supercar! For example- The Titan (Holo) Katowice 2014 sticker is worth almost 80,000 USD, whereas iBUYPOWER (Holo) Katowice 2014 sticker is worth 70,000 USD. Even the normal stickers are priced more than 500 USD.
The main reason behind this is the shortage of these stickers in the market. There are very few Katowice 2014 stickers. Some of them are measured not in hundreds but in dozens. Not many players used to play Counter-Strike back in 2014. Moreover, many players bought stickers, applied them to their guns, and that was it. This resulted into less number of available stickers.Overtime the value of these stickers increased and now are considered as a memorial of Counter-Strike’s ultimate growth.
Blue Gem Skins
Blue Gem is a rare pattern for Case Hardened skins with the maximum amount of blue on them. hese skins are considered very rare and super valuable among traders and players. There are many Case Hardened skins in the game. The most popular is probably the AK-47 Case Hardened. There are a total of ninety thousand of this skin in existence. Among them 123 is of pattern 661, and only 9 of them are of Factory New wear. This is an extreme rare skin to find and if you do so you should be ready to spend a lot of money. However, this is not the most expensive Blue Gem skin pattern!
The Karambit Case Hardened (Factory New) with exact pattern 387 was sold for $100,000 back in 2016. This chance of finding this exact pattern is 1 in 371 Million. The owner has later refused an offer of 1.5 Million USD for this knife. This makes this exact knife currently the most expensive CS2 skins of any kind.
Rare Patterns
Patterns refer to color combinations of skins. In CS2 same two skins can be different of its pattern index. Every skin contains up to 999 pattern variations. Some of these patterns are extremely rare to find, which makes a skin’s value to rise. For example, the Doppler knife skin’s prices depends on their pattern index. These skins are mainly created with color mixture of Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald. The abundance of each color decides its pattern index. The more purity of only one color makes the skin more rare to find and hence more costly.
Rare Crafts
You can craft your already iconic skin with rare stickers and increase its value. For example, The AWP Dragon Lore (Factory New) is already worth more than 10000 USD. Now if you combine some Katowice 2014 Holo Strickers with the same skin, this will easily be registered as a collectible item. So the price of skin will be much higher than usual.
Final Verdict
The prices of CS2 skins can go as much as someone is willing to pay. So there is no limit of how far this list can go. As the game gets older, more and more skins are adding to this list. What these numbers will reach in future can only be determined by time.So far this is the current most expensive CS2 skin’s list you can find.
Read More: The 10 Best AWP Skins of Counter-Strike 2
