Most Popular CS:GO Skins

The most iconic skin in all of Counter-Strike is undoubtedly the AWP | Dragon Lore; even non-CSGO players have heard about it at some point! It features a knotwork design of a fierce dragon. 

• Flavor Text: 200 keys could never unlock its secrets
• Release Date: 1 July 2014
• Price Range: $4,250 – $12,150
• Collection: The Cobblestone Collection

The Dragon Lore is notoriously known as the most expensive Counter-Strike skin, costing over $12,000 for a Factory New version. However, these prices are just getting started, as a Souvenir AWP | Dragon Lore can cost at least $400,000 in Factory New condition.

Another iconic Counter-Strike skin is the M4A4 | Howl, one of the best skin designs in the entire game featuring a snarling wolf. Unfortunately, the skin is now placed under the Contraband category, as the original artist stole the Howl artwork from another person.

• Flavor Text: – 
• Release Date: 1 May 2014
• Price Range: $3,670 – $6,750
• Collection: The Huntsman Collection (Formerly)

This art theft situation forced Valve to discontinue the Howl, and it can no longer be unboxed or produced. There is a very limited supply of M4A4 | Howls, which is why they are worth thousands. 

The third skin of the Counter-Strike “skin trifecta” is the AK-47 | Fire Serpent, one of the Covert skins in the Bravo Collection. The skin has a memento from ruins that has been painted with a fire serpent motif. 

• Flavor Text: If you want to survive in the streets, learn to spit fire
• Release Date: 19 September 2013
• Price Range: $499 – $2,350
• Collection: The Bravo Collection

The Fire Serpent remains incredibly popular because players love using the trade up contract to get it. Other than that, the Operation Bravo Cases cost $50, which is why the Fire Serpent is one of the most expensive AK-47 skins out there. 

The AWP | Asiimov was one of the first prevalent AWP skins in the game, and it gained increased popularity after legendary AWPer Kenny “kennyS” Schrub started using it and naming his one the “Magic Stick.”

• Flavor Text: Anyone can predict the future… a visionary shapes it
• Release Date: 20 February 2014
• Price Range: $67 – $117
• Collection: The Phoenix Collection

Despite being over a decade old, the AWP | Asiimov is still highly popular thanks to its vibrant, sci-fi design. It is definitely an attention-grabbing skin as most players would notice its white base from a mile away. 

Aside from the AK-47 | Fire Serpent, the Redline has to be the most popular AK-47 skin in the game. It was released in February 2014 as a part of the Phoenix collection, and in the early days of Global Offensive, everybody wanted an AK-47 | Redline in their inventories. 

• Flavor Text: Never be afraid to push it to the limit
• Release Date: 20 February 2014
• Price Range: $10 – $86
• Collection: The Phoenix Collection

The Redline features a carbon fiber hydrographic on top of a black base with red pinstripe decals. Overall, the Redline is a very sleek skin that is sought after by players who love minimalist designs. It is also the perfect skin to apply stickers on. 

The first knife on this list has to be the Butterfly Knife | Fade. This skin is a combination of the most popular Counter-Strike knife in the game and the most popular knife skin. It literally can’t get better than that.

• Flavor Text: This isn’t just a weapon, it’s a conversation piece – Imogen, Arms Dealer In Training
• Release Date: 1 July 2014
• Price Range: $3,600 – $3,800
• Collection: The Breakout Collection

The Butterfly Knife | Fade has been painted with airbrushing transparent paints that fade together over a bright, chrome-base coat. It is super hard to focus on the game when you can keep pulling out this knife and spin it around your fingertips. 

The Hyper Beast skin family has become incredibly popular and iconic, and the M4A1-S | Hyper Beast is the one that started it all. When it was released in April 2015, Counter-Strike fans immediately wanted their hands on one of these bad boys.

• Flavor Text: You really want to impress me Booth? Make this black light sensitive – Rona Sabri, Rising Star
• Release Date: 15 April 2015
• Price Range: $11 – $124
• Collection: The Chroma 2 Collection

The Hyper Beast features a very complex, yet detailed design of a beastly creature in psychedelic colors. The design of the Hyper Beast is loved so much that companies have began printing it on mousepads and selling them!

The AWP | Medusa is one of the priciest AWP skins in the game, and for good reason. It features a dark design with an image of a gorgon, which happens to be Medusa, a relevant monster in Greek mythology. 

• Flavor Text: If you can see me, you’re already dead
• Release Date: 26 May 2015
• Price Range: $1,950 – $5,300
• Collection: The Gods and Monsters Collection

The AWP | Medusa is the rarest skin in the Gods and Monsters Collection, which is one of the most expensive skin collections in the entire game. Most players yearn to have one of these in their inventory, but the super high price point of the skin is quite a big problem. 

Neck-in-neck with the Butterfly Knife, the Karambit is one of the most sought after knives in the game. When the Karambit | Doppler was released in 2015 as a part of the Chroma Collection, the community started going crazy for this knife. 

• Flavor Text: Getting lost in its color can prove fatal
• Release Date: 8 January 2015
• Price Range: $1,410 – $1,520
• Collection: The Chroma Collection, The Chroma 2 Collection, The Chroma 3 Collection

The most interesting thing about the Doppler is that it can have six different phases, giving players more variety to select from. There are four regular phases, and two extremely rare ones, which are the Ruby and Sapphire. 

The Printstream skin family is hands-down the cleanest skin in all of Counter-Strike, and looks amazing on the Desert Eagle. The skin has been custom painted with black and white designs, then finished with pearlescent highlights. 

• Flavor Text: WHITE_1; BLACK_1; PEARLESCENT_1;
• Release Date: 7 August 2020
• Price Range: $21 – $85
• Collection: The Fracture Collection

The Printstream definitely symbolizes the well-known musical artist Marshmello, as it features black “X” marks throughout the skin. Overall, the Desert Eagle | Printstream is perfect for players who love sleek, yet eye-catching designs.

The M9 Bayonet | Crimson Web was and still is one of the most popular knives in Counter-Strike. The Crimson Web has always been a preferred skin choice for knives, and the M9 Bayonet does a great job of displaying it with its large surface area. 

• Flavor Text: Be careful where you walk, you never know where the web is spread
• Release Date: 14 August 2013
• Price Range: $778 – $1,405
• Collection: Found In 11 Collections

The Crimson Web has been painted with spider web hydrographics over a crimson red coat. The M9 Bayonet is then finished off with a semi-gloss topcoat. Overall, the matte black handle does a perfect job of complementing the skin. 

The best-looking skin in all of Counter-Strike has to be the P250 | Sand Dune. Jokes aside, you cannot consider yourself a real member of the Counter-Strike community if you cannot embrace the Sand Dune.

• Flavor Text: With Turner dead, we have a new priority: rescue Alex Kincaide – Felix Riley, Commanding Officer
• Release Date: 27 November 2013
• Price Range: $0 – $2
• Collection: The Dust 2 Collection

The P250 | Sand Dune has become a living meme within the CSGO community, as players would offer this skin in exchange for expensive ones such as the AWP | Dragon Lore. We figured we had to put it on this list somewhere due to its ironic popularity. 

Back to actual skins; we have the AK-47 | Vulcan, a skin that made waves during its release in 2014. The Vulcan offers an extremely sleek look of a sports inspired design. Players appreciate its clean and simple appearance. 

• Flavor Text: – 
• Release Date: 1 May 2014
• Price Range: $78 – $795
• Collection: The Huntsman Collection

Unfortunately, the AK-47 | Vulcan looks especially bad in Battle-Scarred condition, which is why its Factory New version is ten times the price of its highest wear. Despite it being a super old skin, the Vulcan remains incredibly popular ten years later. 

The Desert Eagle | Blaze has to be the most iconic Desert Eagle skin in the game. It was released over a decade ago in 2013, the year skins were first introduced. Over the years, the Blaze has remained as one of the most popular skins in the game. 

• Flavor Text: – 
• Release Date: 14 August 2013
• Price Range: $590 – $600
• Collection: The Dust Collection

The skin follows a relatively simple concept, as it has been painted by airbrushing transparent paints, featuring a fire ablaze. It is the perfect skin for players who prefer straightforward designs, but will cost you around $600 to purchase. 

Another OG Counter-Strike skin is the Glock-18 | Water Elemental. It was released as a part of the Operation Breakout Weapon Case, one of the most-purchased weapon cases on the market. 

• Flavor Text: –
• Release Date: 1 July 2014
• Price Range: $2 – $9
• Collection: The Breakout Collection

The Water Elemental has been custom painted with an image of a water creature in an appealing graphic style. The creator of the skin has somehow made a red and blue color combination work, which is super impressive!

The popularity of the Hyper Beast should not be underestimated, which is why the AWP | Hyper Beast has also made it to this list. This AWP skin was released only one month after the M4A1-S version, showing how successful the Hyper Beast skin was in only one month. 

• Flavor Text: You really want to impress me Booth? Make this black light sensitive – Rona Sabri, Rising Star
• Release Date: 26 May 2015
• Price Range: $16 – $87
• Collection: The Falchion Collection

The AWP | Hyper Beast has been painted with a similar beastly creature in psychedelic colors that makes the skin stand out easily. If one of these bad boys were dropped on the ground, you could easily tell it is a Hyper Beast from miles away.

The Printstream makes a second appearance on this list, as the next spot is reserved for the M4A1-S | Printstream. Despite being released not too long ago, the Printstream has quickly become one of the most sought after skin thanks to its glossy looks.

• Flavor Text: WHITE_1; BLACK_1; PEARLESCENT_1; SILENCED_1;
• Release Date: 3 December 2020
• Price Range: $95 – $395
• Collection: The Operation Broken Fang Collection

The M4A1-S | Printstream follows the white design with pearlescent highlights, and looks absolutely mesmerizing in Factory New or Minimal Wear condition. However, the gap between a Battle-Scarred version and its best condition is almost four times the price!

Before the Printstream was released, the USP-S | Kill Confirmed was undoubtedly the best skin for the Counter-Terrorist starting pistol. It was released all the way back in 2015 as a part of the Shadow Collection.

• Flavor Text: 2 in the chest, 1 in the head
• Release Date: 17 September 2015
• Price Range: $29 – $135
• Collection: The Shadow Collection

The Kill Confirmed skin has been painted with an image of a bullet shattering a skull, which is a perfect symbolization of how the USP-S functions in an average pistol round. This skin features striking colors and designs that make it one of the most popular USP-S skins available. 

Another Karambit skin to make it to the list is the Tiger Tooth. Though we’ve already featured the Karambit earlier, the Tiger Tooth skin is just the perfect concept to complement this fan-favorite curved blade. 

• Flavor Text: Like the tiger it is rare… like the tiger it is deadly…
• Release Date: 8 January 2015
• Price Range: $1,100 – $1,350
• Collection: The Chroma Collection, The Chroma 2 Collection, The Chroma 3 Collection

The Karambit | Tiger Tooth has been anodized in orange color, and hand-etched in a tiger stripe pattern. The design of the Karambit knife looks exactly like a tiger’s claw, making the Tiger Tooth one of the best choices for the knife. 

Those who seek a skin with a detailed design can target an AK-47 | The Empress for their loadouts. The Empress features an intricate concept which has a custom painting of an Empress tarot card as the skin’s inspiration. 

• Flavor Text: Wealth comes in many forms
• Release Date: 14 September 2017
• Price Range: $20 – $118
• Collection: The Spectrum 2 Collection

The greatest part about The Empress skin is that it isn’t too pricey for an AK-47 skin. Most skins for this rifle will cost you more than $100, but you can get a Minimal Wear version of The Empress for around the $50 mark. 

Another classic, fan-favorite skin is the AWP | Redline. The AWP | Redline is one of the oldest skins for the sniper rifle, being released all the way back in 2013 as a part of the Winter Offensive Collection. 

• Flavor Text: Never be afraid to push it to the limit
• Release Date: 18 December 2013
• Price Range: $39 – $60
• Collection: The Winter Offensive Collection

Just like the AK-47 | Redline, the AWP version follows the exact same design. The skin has been painted using carbon fiber hydrographic and a simple decal of a red pinstripe that covers almost the entire skin. 

The Operation Breakout Weapon Case is by far one of the best cases to ever be introduced to the game. Another amazing skin from the collection is the M4A1-S | Cyrex, which is one of the most appealing M4A1-S skins in the game.

• Flavor Text: –
• Release Date: 1 July 2014
• Price Range: $17 – $30
• Collection: The Breakout Collection

The Cyrex features a custom painted high-tech design in black, white, and red colors. Despite having various hues, the skin still looks very minimalistic and easy on the eye. The best part is it won’t cost you too much money, as a Factory New version is around $30.

The M4A4 | Desolate Space is a Classified skin from The Gamma Collection released in June 2016. Despite being worth $18 in Factory New condition, it features one of the most intricate designs we have on this list. 

• Flavor Text: “We’ve lost contact”
• Release Date: 16 June 2016
• Price Range: $3 – $18
• Collection: The Gamma Collection

The Desolate Space has been custom painted with a space theme, and displays an image of a skull behind an astronaut attire. There is a lot of stuff going on throughout the skin, but it looks absolutely amazing once you digest everything. 

If you’re a big fan of flashy skins, you should turn your eyes to the AK-47 | Bloodsport. Coming from The Spectrum Collection, the Bloodsport quickly made waves through the Counter-Strike community for its attention-grabbing design.

• Flavor Text: Co-driver wanted
• Release Date: 16 March 2017
• Price Range: $91 – $115
• Collection: The Spectrum Collection

This AK-47 skin has been covered in white logo decals over a red and black base, appearing super glossy and bright. There are a lot of writings, including Japanese text. A cool feature of this skin is that it doesn’t look too bad in Battle-Scarred condition, so there’s always that option.

Another old-school AWP skin is the Lightning Strike, which was released in the first weapon case in the game ever. The skin used to be extremely popular, but some fans started getting bored of it, which is why it finds itself relatively low on this list.

• Flavor Text: Sometimes you don’t need to strike the same place twice
• Release Date: 14 August 2013
• Price Range: $496 – $501
• Collection: The Arms Deal Collection

The Lightning Strike has been painted with a lightning strike motif, using anodizing paints over a purple metallic coat. Overall, it’s a skin with a straightforward design and remains as a great choice for veteran players.

The Glock-18 | Wasteland Rebel is one of the two Covert-tier skins in The Gamma Collection. Despite being a high-rarity skin, the Wasteland Rebel won’t break your bank, which is why it has become one of the most popular Glock-18 skin choices. 

• Flavor Text: Pay tribute
• Release Date: 16 June 2016
• Price Range: $3 – $5
• Collection: The Gamma Collection

The Wasteland Rebel has been distressed, block printed, and painted with all sorts of graffiti, which is exactly what you’d expect if a group of rebels were set free to spray paint walls and other structures. The text reading “KILL THEM ALL” is also spray painted on it. 

The AK-47 | Asiimov is a late bloomer in the Asiimov family, as it was released in December 2018 while its counterparts were already introduced in the earlier years of Counter-Strike. Still, being an Asiimov, this AK-47 skin quickly became sought after not long after it was dropped.

• Flavor Text: Anyone can predict the future… a visionary shapes it
• Release Date: 6 December 2018
• Price Range: $17 – $164
• Collection: The Danger Zone Collection

This AK-47 has been custom painted with a sci-fi design featuring hues of orange, white, and black. It is the perfect combination to create an eye-catching skin that you won’t get bored of. However, it is on the pricier side as a Factory New copy will cost you over $150.

The AWP | Graphite resides in The Bravo Collection, one of the most iconic weapon cases in the game. This AWP skin is a memento from the Agency map, which has been painted in a polygon pattern with metallic paints.

• Flavor Text: Pencils down, hands up
• Release Date: 19 September 2013
• Price Range: $150 – $175
• Collection: The Bravo Collection

The Graphite skin features various reflectivities over its dark, chrome base coat. It is a great skin choice for players who don’t want anything too flashy, as its straightforward design makes it a popular choice among minimalists.

The M4A1-S | Knight is one of the most popular skins in the game, but not necessarily because of its design and concept. It has become so well-known simply because it can be used in a Trade-Up Contract for the AWP | Dragon Lore.

• Flavor Text: What do you mean you can’t find Cocinero and Izaki? – Felix Riley, Commanding Officer
• Release Date: 1 July 2014
• Price Range: $2,600 – $2,800
• Collection: The Cobblestone Collection

The Knight is the only Classified skin in the notorious Cobblestone Collection, meaning ten of these bad boys will guarantee you the most prestigious skin in the game. The skin has a very bland design, featuring brass inlays with a renaissance armor theme. 

Finally, we have a second skin from The Gods and Monsters Collection, the M4A4 | Poseidon. This skin has been painted with a depiction of an epic battle between Pisces and Poseidon, two relevant characters in Greek mythology. 

• Flavor Text: Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead
• Release Date: 26 May 2015
• Price Range: $840 – $1,150
• Collection: The Gods and Monsters Collection

Being a part of one of the most expensive collections in the game, it is not that surprising to see the Poseidon being valued at around the $1,000 mark. It is definitely one of the most popular blue-themed skins in the entire game, partly thanks to its cultural relevance. 

Valve has constantly been pumping out new and innovative skins throughout the past decade. Though many skins were created by Valve’s design team, the company also implemented a Community Workshop system where fans could pitch in their own designs and have it potentially added into the game.

The Community Workshop feature has allowed thousands of talented artists around the world to show off their skills and have their skin designs published in the game. Most of the skins featured on this list were created by Counter-Strike players, just like yourself!

The skins on this list were ranked based on their popularity, which is a combination of relevance, skin design, and historic value within the Counter-Strike community. If most of these skins are a little too pricey for you, you always have thousands of alternatives to back on!