In Counter Strike: Global Offensive, you generally use a gun to kill people (I bet you didn’t see that coming, huh?). You have a decent variety of weapons to choose from, each one of them with their specifications and tweaks that distinguish them from the others. Some of them are powerful, others have better accuracy, or are easier to control, etc. Gamers normally have to practice with each one of these so they can determine which one suits them better.
But, throughout the history of this franchise, one weapon has stood out above the rest and regarded as one of the best guns to play with. A rifle that, in the steady hands of a hawk-eyed, nerves of steel player, can kill anyone in one shot, giving his team the advantage or even the victory. This weapon is the infamous, (almost) all-powerful Arctic Warfare Police, or AWP for short.
Formerly known as the Magnum Sniper Rifle, this gun was fated to be a favorite among the professional players. Its ridiculously high power, combined with its unique .338 cartridge caliber and a scope sight that provides an accuracy range of 69m, makes it a deadly weapon when manipulated by a skilled gamer. It also has the distinction of being (before CS 1.1) the most OP weapon of all, requiring a single shot in any part of the body to instakill someone.
That’s right, a bullet from this monstrosity could barely grasp the border of your leg and it could cause a plethora of fatal effects in your body that would put you to sleep eternally alongside old Abe Lincoln. But seriously, it was as powerful as unfair, for anyone – even noobs – could be relatively unstoppable holding this weapon, like a T. Rex with grabbers. Because of this (and other complaints), it has been nerfed in various instances. Still, it is powerful enough to lights out anyone if shot anywhere above the legs, with a single cap.
But enough sucking its bull-ets, we’re here to talk about another of its cool feats available officially on CS:GO: AWP skins.
Dress your AWP doll, sweetheart
Being one of the most used and hard to master weapons nowadays, it’s only logical that a good bunch of its best skins is as beautiful as rare to find, and in this article, we’ll show you some of the finishes you should seek if you want to either brag about it, or make some Benjamins for you. Or even both. Bear in mind that this is completely subjective, although it’s based on general acceptance. We also assume you already have knowledge of how skin system works in this game. If not, you should check out our previous articles where we cover this matter. Without further ado, let’s get started.
It is most likely that your first AWP skin dropped would be something like the Safari Mesh, a regular gray-tuned painting with the hive-looking pattern across the body of the gun. This is a regular item that it’s found on the Lake map (de_lake) and it falls under the Industrial Grade. As common as it is, though, there’s a version of this design deemed as extremely rare, where the gun needs to be Battle Scarred and have enough low float value to look black while not being awful. It’s possible to find it with the StatTrak attachment, and its price can go from $0.15 up to $3.
Next up, is the Sun in Leo. This is a blue skin that depicts some sort of constellation and various Zodiac signs (depending on the pattern). While it looks pretty nice, is not that much expensive anyways. It came for the first time in the Gods and Monsters Collection, introduced in Operation Bloodhound. Like the previous one, it falls under the Industrial Grade, and it can be sold for $1.50 to $4.
Rising up the price is the Snake Camo, another gray-tuned skin but with snake-like scales pattern, dropped this time in the popular Dust map (de_dust). This one is labeled as Mil-Spec Grade and depending on the weapon’s quality, it may be worth something between $9.90 and $65. It’s not something special, neither on its design nor in its drop rate, but if you happen to get a Factory New, AWP Snake Camo, you may get some bucks for selling it.
Another option you have is the Pit Viper, a design similar to the previous one but in green colors. It is dropped in the Italy map (cs_italy) and to be honest, it’s one of the ugliest colors you’ll find for such a fine weapon. A lot of people agree with me on this one and because of that, it’s not sought after. There’s also a souvenir version, and some people believe that due to being overlooked when opening cases (saying that it’s not worthy), it is not in hands of everyone, which makes it a bit rare to see on the field. It is Restricted Grade, and can be sold for $9.90 to $65.89.
Next, we have the Pink DDPAT, a Restricted Grade item with a military-like camo design but with black, grey and pink colors for its pattern. It drops on the Overpass map (de_overpass) and it has been offered at $10.30 to $57.28. It really doesn’t stand out in any way, except maybe if you managed to have a Factory New, Souvenir version that you may sell for around $188.28.
Here’s the equally Restricted Grade Worm God, a skin that resembles what it looks like the “tentacles” (?) of the insect deity, coming out from a skull. This is another design deemed as ugly as hell, and it is not worth more than $1.92 ($8.17 if it has the StatTrak attachment and is FN). It is found in the Chroma 2 Case.
The Phobos is another Restricted Grade skin that makes the AWP looks like some sort of futuristic ray gun with buttons and displays. Its color schemes are predominantly black and yellow, with some red and green serving as LED indicators (maybe to resemble a custom set-up). It looks pretty cool, to be honest, but not menacing at all (it was named after the Greek God Phobos, which means fear), and it can be found in a Gamma Case, although it’s not that rare and you may not get more than $4.71 ($13.54 if StatTrak’d and WW).
Now we’re entering the reign of Classified Grade, starting with the BOOM skin (yeah, in capital letters) which is basically a red background with comic books-like draws in different reddish tunes. Depending on the pattern, you may read in your painting some words like “BOOM!” “POW!” “CRASH!” “CRACK!” (and probably be reminded of those cheesy 80’s Batman effects). It’s a pretty cool finish that you will rarely find ever, for it drops from the eSports 2013 case. But if by any chance you get your hands on one of this, then you’ll have yourself a $25.84 to $136.57 skin. And if you’re lucky enough to have it StatTrak, then the price could be any from $63.90 to $614.60.
Next is the Graphite. It has geometric patterns in a black and grey color scheme (just like its namesake). It looks nice when your AWP is FN and it can make you earn from $48 to $52.86 when sold ($184.60 to $199.87 if it has the StatTrak). It is found in the Operation Bravo Case (which drops very rarely nowadays).
Now we move on to the Electric Hive. This skin shares a certain similarity with the Safari Mesh when looking at its pattern. However, its color scheme makes it more attractive to the eye, with a gray background and the hive pattern painted in blue and orange, degraded, and all across the weapon. This is a good-looking design that in my humble opinion is kinda underrated, considering that as of today, this finish is hard to get in a drop (uncrated from the eSports Winter 2013 case). Anyways, its current price ranges from $12.54 to $27.10 ($41 to $59.88 with StatTrak). By the way, an extremely rare pattern in this design is having it all blue or all orange. Just for your information.
The Redline AWP is a gorgeous item that bases its beauty in the simplicity of its design. It looks like painted with a carbon fiber hydrographic and adorned with red stripes across the body and the scope. This is a gun that you will find neither Factory New nor Battle Scarred. Found in the rarely dropped Winter Offensive Weapon Case, it can be sold for $13.94 to $25.30 ($41.80 to $76.20 with StatTrak).
Coming up is the Corticera, a skin depicted as (you guessed) a corticera tree surrounded by a blue background. It’s not that wow, although it is well-designed. Uncrated from the eSports 2014 Summer case, it is also rare to find, but you won’t get too much from it ($7.25 to $16.52 regular; $25.16 to $66.40 with StatTrak).
The Elite Build is a black and grey skin with some details added in a bronze color that is found in the Operation Wildfire Case. It comes in all kind of weapon quality and it is deemed as an OK finish that is not worth more than $13.58 (or $55 if it has the StatTrak).
The final category in this guide, the Covert Grade, holds some of the most expensive and sought-after AWP skins. Of course, this means they are the most difficult to find. Let’s kick-off with the Hyper Beast, a beautiful finish with an awesome beast displaying a wide array of psychedelic colors. Found in the Falchion Case, it can be sold for as much as $66.48 (almost quadruplicating this price, $207.34 if a StatTrak is attached).
Next up, is the Man-o’-War skin. A very gorgeous design, it has a blue metallic coat as the base, and gold swirls adorning the body that makes it pretty desirable. Uncrated from the Chroma case, you can sell it for around $14.77 without StatTrak; $45.03 with it.
The Asiimov is a beautiful one with a sci-fi theme that fits the AWP very well. Mostly painted in white and orange colors, it has some parts of it in black. An extremely rare version of this design is the Battle Scarred with the scope in full black (commonly known as the Blackiimov), which is obtainable with a float value of at least 0.96. Normally found on the Operation Phoenix Weapon Case, it can actually be sold for as much as $42.56, or $118.15 with the attachment we’ve been mentioning a lot (people fucking like having a record of how many wimps they’ve killed).
Electrifying your eyes is the Lightning Strike, a really cool finish that has a lightning bolt piercing thru the night sky-like background. It suits the gun almost perfectly, considering the raw power of its shots and the deadliness of a real lightning bolt, no wonder it was picked up as the motif for this skin. Uncrated from the CS:GO Weapon Case, it is currently traded for $94… and yeah, you can trade it for more bucks if holding the little kill counter gadget ($259.14).
The last two skins are probably the ones you better know by now. The Medusa finish is the second most sought-after item for the AWP, and how wouldn’t? Just look at it: ITS B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! The hair of the Gorgon, and the gorgon herself fits flawlessly with the way AWP works in skilled hands (lock on target via the scope, as if it were Medusa’s eyes, and shot the life-ending, petrifying bullet. Poetic.) Like the Sun of Leo, it is found inside a God and Monsters Crate. Factory New versions of this skin are sold at $1,700, so having this in perfect quality would mean you have some good money waiting to be deposited in your account.
And finally, we have the one, the most popular and desired skin for this almost OP weapon, the legendary DragonLore. Found as part of The Cobblestone Collection, its unique, gorgeous design and the dragon emblazoned in this weapon made the community in general fall in love with this piece of art. We’ve talked a lot about this gun finish in previous articles, and for a good reason: it’s AWESOME AS HELL!!! Just rejoice in its beauty. As for the price, a Factory New, regular DLore Skin can be sold at $2,449, which is a ton of money for a bunch of pixels. BUT, there’s an even rarer (and logically, more expensive) version known as the Souvenir, Factory New AWP DragonLore which is estimated to be worth…wait for it…17,205 keys.
“Umm…Keys? What are you talking about?” I know mate, but there’s currently no price tagged for this version. However, the aforementioned regular design’s price is also estimated in keys (1,065 to be exact), so with a little math, we calculated that the Souvenir one could be sold at…39,563 US DOLLARS!!!!! Now that’s a ton of money right there.
And that’s it! If you find this guide useful, please share it with your buddies by clicking the buttons below. See you next time!