CS2 Guide For All Marble Fade Skins

The “Fade” family is one of the most known and desirable skins in Counter-Strike. The skin is a gradient of multiple colors, usually starting from purple and finishing with gold or gray. However, Marble Fade skins have darker and more colors than the regular Fade. They are rarer and getting one getting one costs an arm and a leg and with many fade percentages available. this can often be confusing

The gradient of the Marble Fade has a lot of variations, some starting from red, to gold, to blue, and back to red, while others are just red and blue.

To help you understand what these skins look like, their value, and their rarity, we’ve crafted this ultimate guide for the best marble fade patterns.

Let’s get to it!

If you go to the Steam Community Market, you’ll find that you can grab a marble fade skin for pretty “cheap”. Falchion Marble Fade (Factory New) for example can be bought for $193, while other Falchion Marble Fades are sold for thousands of dollars. What’s the big deal?

Well, that’s because the community is looking for specific patterns/gradients that are much rarer which is why they are valued so highly.

The most valuable Marble Fades are the ones the CS2 community like to call “Fire and Ice”. The fire and ice moniker comes from patterns that are devoid of the gold/yellow color and are mostly covered by red and blue. However, this pattern is available only for the Karambit, Bayonet, Flip, and Gut knives.

For the Falchion, Butterfly, Bowie, M9 Bayonet, and Hunstman knives, people usually look for the “Max Red Tip” pattern as they are the rarest.

Now, let’s have an in-depth look at the patterns.

As we previously mentioned, the fire and ice gradient is devoid of any yellow color. But, this only applies to the “playing side” of the knife i.e. the side that you look at while the knife is in the player character’s hands. 

The other side of the knife (which you can see while inspecting) can have a yellow color in the gradient.

There are several different variants of this pattern that determine the value of the skin. The variants with the most amount of red are usually the most valuable. To differentiate these variants, players use the “Max” rate scheme.

The “Max” rate varies from 1 to 10 (numbering depends on the knife), with 10 being the minimum amount of red for Fire and Ice, while 1 being the maximum amount of red. So, if you see a “1st Max” pattern, that is one of the more valuable Fire and Ice. 

There are also “max fake Fire and Ice” patterns in which you can see small traces of yellow, usually at the tip of the knife.

Furthermore, every skin, including Marble Fades has a pattern index, ranging from 1-1000, which can be used to easily identify a knife. 

First, here’s an overview of the Max rates for each knife:

• Karambit Max rates: 10 to 1 (10 being the minimum amount of red, 1 being the maximum)
• Bayonet Max rates: 7 to 1 (7 being the minimum amount of red, 1 being the maximum)
• Flip Knife Max rates: 4 to 1 (4 being the minimum amount of red, 1 being the maximum)
• Gut Knife Max rates: 7 to 1 (7 being the minimum amount of red, 1 being the maximum)

Here’s an overview of the pattern indexes that indicate the Max rate of a skin:

• 1st Max: 412
• 2nd Max: 16, 146, 241, 359, 393, 541, 602, 649, 688, 701
• 3rd Max: 152, 281, 292, 344, 628, 673, 743, 777, 792, 994
• 4th Max: 48, 126, 129, 332, 780, 787, 874, 908, 918, 923
• 5th Max: 182, 204, 252, 457, 522, 578, 652, 660, 685, 705, 736, 832, 988
• 6th Max: 112, 230, 340, 356, 444, 452, 471, 607, 621, 631, 761, 773, 873, 876, 982
• 7th Max: 8, 14, 32, 58, 108, 213, 233, 243, 274, 405, 454, 614, 653, 683, 728, 732, 770, 795, 803, 826, 867, 949
• 8th Max: 5, 178, 188, 202, 337, 378, 406, 461, 539, 696, 702, 854, 966, 971
• 9th Max: 68, 121, 149, 165, 171, 206, 287, 370, 493, 499, 516, 637, 655, 656, 672, 706, 766, 817, 922, 959, 997
• 10th Max: 28, 156, 177, 238, 402, 545, 546, 553, 559, 589, 591, 725, 764, 791, 810, 844, 858, 868, 972, 977

There are also Max Fake and FFI pattern indexes which you can find in this extensive guide by korenevskiy.

The Max Red Tip is also one of the most desired Marble Fades in the community as it is very rare. This pattern is sought-after only for the M9 Bayonet and the Butterfly Knife. Other knives with a red tip probably aren’t seen as valuable.

This pattern for the M9 Bayonet has a couple of categories. Naturally, the most popular and valuable one is the Max Red Tip. After those come the Max Red with minimal orange tip, and Fake Red Tips or Orange Tip.

Here are the pattern indexes for each category:

• • Max Red Tip: 34, 41, 87, 93, 205, 256, 326, 341, 348, 403, 468, 520, 527, 575, 583, 601, 636, 648, 668, 714, 742, 763, 807, 834, 897, 892, 910, 911, 943, 944, 961, 975

• Max Red with Minimal Orange Tip: 107, 147, 201, 380, 399, 422, 517, 550, 571, 577, 745, 747, 800, 824, 825, 856, 936, 981

• Orange (Fake Red Tip) Tier 1: 29, 46, 84, 150, 224, 236, 278, 313, 314, 395, 401, 465, 486, 514, 599, 657, 690, 751, 781, 789, 827, 840, 849, 956, 968

• Orange (Fake Red Tip) Tier 2: 64, 80, 136, 137, 141, 172, 173, 223, 435, 447, 455, 462, 482, 572, 597, 608, 640, 712, 726, 813, 838

The Butterfly Knife Marble Fade has 3 categories: Max Red Tip Tier 1, Max Red Tip Tier 2, Orange (Fake Red Tip). Tier 1s contain the most amount of red without any orange at the tip, so those are the most valuable. Tier 2s are the skins that have a small tint of orange. And finally, Orange, are the ones with an obvious orange tip.

Here are the pattern indexes for each category:

• • Max Red Tip Tier 1: 9, 27, 90, 125, 183, 203, 232, 254, 329, 351, 372, 397, 402, 404, 441, 459, 473, 483, 485, 506, 537, 559, 626, 632, 647, 674, 725, 727, 753, 764, 785, 791, 805, 810, 818, 858, 909, 941, 962, 976, 980

• Max Red Tip Tier 2: 60, 62, 71, 948, 148, 170, 216, 222, 234, 266, 304, 307, 309, 315, 328, 333, 364, 368, 400, 445, 448, 463, 515, 535, 555, 569, 570, 582, 593, 605, 606, 624, 630, 663, 691, 717, 723, 746, 899, 931, 958

• Orange (Fake Red Tip): 5, 32, 68, 121, 149, 156, 171, 178, 188, 202, 206, 213, 243, 274, 287, 337, 370, 378, 406, 461, 493, 499, 516, 539, 545, 546, 589, 591, 637, 655, 656, 672, 696, 706, 766, 817, 844, 922, 966, 977

There is also the BTA category of patterns that simply don’t fit into Tier 1 and Tier 2. You can find those pattern indexes in CptnKraken’s guide.

While there are certainly so many different Marble Fade patterns out there, the Fire and Ice and Max Red Tip are the most popular, sought-after, and valuable in the community. So, if you’re looking to grab a knife that’s going to turn into an investment, these are the two patterns you should be looking at.

Or, if you want to grab a budget knife that looks as good as a Red Tip or a Fire and Ice, you can always get a Fake Red Tip or a Fake Fire and Ice.