What are the most iconic CSGO skins?
CS:GO skins are pivotal parts of the entire CS:GO experience. While they are pure cosmetics, which do not impact the gameplay in any form, for many players, they are even more important than matches. Why is it so? The answer to this question is very simple. Each skin allows you to customize a weapon to your liking or change your knife in a completely different one, which looks really awesome. Many of these skins are very beautiful and thanks to them your character (and to extend, you) stands out among the competition. Some players also try to find skins used by players from ESL teams. After all, they are their idols, so the fanbase wants to copy them. Last but not least, there is the group of players, who do not care about skins at all. They simply sell them to gain additional income, which they might utilize to buy new games on Steam.
No matter the reason, there is no denial that CS:GO skins are an important part of the entire experience. Hence, there is no surprise that people are often looking for free cs:go skins or a cheap method to obtain them. Even though they do not impact the gameplay itself. In this article we decided to provide you with information about the most iconic CS:GO skins. Before moving to the main part of the article, we would like to point out one, crucial thing. CS:GO is a very dynamic game; new skins and cases are added constantly to the game. Hence, even if our list might be accurate at this moment it might change in the future. Besides, remember that your opinion is the most important here. You might like different skins after all.
Most iconic CS:GO skins
1. AWP Asiimov
You cannot talk about CS:GO skins and don’t mention the AWP Asiimov skin. The skin was introduced in 2014 in the Phoenix case and it was created by Chris Brown, who presented the skin in September 2013 on Reddit. After a few adjustments he uploaded the skin to the Steam Workshop where it was immediately noticed by Valve workers. Players love the fact that AWP Asiimov looks like a skin taken directly from a SCI-FI movie. The skin legacy is undeniable and many players want to have it in their collection. Currently it costs between $65.00 and $214.37 (with Stat Trak).
2. AK-47 Redline
AK-47 skins are in general among the most popular ones, which can be found in the game. Most players do not want to spend hundreds of dollars just to get a passable knife skin or an incredibly rare AWP skin with Stat Trak etc. they are looking for a gun skin which is relatively cheap but at the same time, it presents a good quality. This is why the AK-47 Redline is so popular. It’s a clean skin which looks great on its own and due to the fact that it has a clutter-free design it is a perfect choice for further customization. Most stickers fit them really well. Thus, most Redlines which can be found in players' possession look completely different from each other. The AK-47 Redline costs between $10.47 and $158.97 (Stat Trak version) so it is not too expensive.
3. AWP Dragon Lore
If we talk about the best looking skins which at the same time made an everlasting impact on the CS:GO game, then AWP Dragon Lore is probably the best example. Everyone heard about this skin and its enormous price, even gamers who do not play CS:GO at all. The skin was introduced in the Operation Breakout update to the game on July 1st, 2013. It was one the first highly valuable skins added to the game, hence it gained a lot of popularity and status of a cult. Not only that but this skin is also a favorite of a pro player KennyS who performed many major plays with AWP Dragon Lore. It is among rarest skins available in the game. Hence, players are divided into two camps. The first group wants to have the AWP Dragon Lore skin as a symbol of status while the second one treats this skin as a long-term investment (due to the fact that the price of AWP Dragon Lore tends to fluctuate a lot). Unfortunately it is a skin not many players would be able to afford. The cheapest version costs (at the moment when this article is written) about $3000 while the most expensive costs more than $10 000. Furthermore, the estimated price of Souvenir Factory New is more than $50 000 but it is rarely even seen on the market. Judging by prices alone, it is not surprising that this skin is considered one of the most iconic in the game.
4. AWP Gungnir
There are many skins for AWP but only a selected few can be considered as good looking as AWP Dragon Lore. AWP Gungnir is widely debated to be even better than AWP Dragon Lore. The skin was added to the game on November 18th 2019 as a part of The Norse Collection and the skin is named after Odin spear, which actually fits it perfectly. Coated with a pearlescent blue paint with a blue spear painted on it, it looks really beautiful and godlike. The skin costs between $6000 and $11000.
5. M4A4 Dragon King
Contrary to the popular belief not all skins for CS:GO have to be expensive. Many of the most iconic Counter-Strike:Global Offensive weapons skins are relatively cheap yet players love them. One of the primary examples is the M4A4 Dragon King skin which was implemented in the game on January 8th, 2015 in Chroma Case. The name shows perfectly what this skin is all about. It is a full blue-painted skin with an image of a red dragon stick on it. Players love this skin for a beautiful combination of red, blue, white and black colors and the fact that the image of the dragon stands out on the battlefield. Dragons are powerful mythical beasts and thanks to this skin, you present yourself as a strong player. The M4A4 Dragon King costs between $5 and $50. As you can see it is a relatively cheap skin, even though it looks really great.
6. Karambit Doppler
Knives are the pinnacle of the CS:GO weapon skins. Just turn on Youtube and watch a few videos of people opening their cases and finding knife skin. Usually they are overwhelmed with joy and not without a good reason. Most knife skins are incredibly rare and also very expensive. However, during the years not too many knife skins came close to the popularity and cult status of the Karambit Doppler skin which was introduced for the first time on January 8th, 2015 in Chroma Case. Karambit, its fan favorite knife skin and Doppler skin can be found in a few variations known as phases (currently there are four of them). Just one look on this skin shows why it is so iconic and popular. It is one the best (if not the best) looking skin in the game. It is also quite expensive. Currently it costs about $900. Furthermore it should be noted that currently, the rarest and to extend the most expensive Karambit Doppler version is Black Pearl. The estimated price of this skin is over $8000. However, its real price is probably much higher. It was sold once for Souvenir Field-Tested Dragon Lore which costs over $60000. Why is it so expensive? First of all, the Karambit Doppler in Black Pearl variant is a really beautiful looking knife skin. Second, knives by themselves are incredibly rare to drop. Hence, their certain patterns are especially elusive and only a selected few players can say that they have them. Black Pearl is among the rarest. Hence, its high price.
7. AK-47 Vulcan
AK-47 is an iconic weapon and a trademark of the terrorist team in CS:GO, hence it should get a proper skin. It is hard to find more iconic AK-47 weapon skins than Vulcan. It was implemented in the game on May 1st, 2014 as a part of The Huntsman Collection. The body of the rifle is painted with black and blue colors and it has white and gray stripes with geometric shapes. The skin is complemented with a hexagonal grid. The skin is loved due to the fact that it is not only good looking but it is also a perfect base for many of the most popular stickers in the game, like Titan Katowice 2015 or ESL One Cologne 2014 (Blue). It is also quite expensive. The AK-47 Vulcan costs between $66 and $1000 (Stat Trak).
8. Glock-18 Fade
If we talk about pistols then one of the most iconic CS:GO pistol skins is Glock-18 Fade (and it is actually one of the most expensive pistol skins in the game). The skin was added to the game on August 14th 2013 as a part of the Assault Collection. Players love this skin for its simplistic yet good looking design. The slide is chromed and also coated with translucent paint which creates an interesting shape of gradient. Hence, it is among the most unique CS:GO skins. Besides the slide the rest of the skin is completely black and easy to customize. You can put basically any sticker on it and it is still going to look great. However the skin costs about $1000. It is quite an expensive pistol.
9. M4A4 Howl
It is impossible to talk about the most iconic CS:GO skins and forget to mention the M4A4 Howl. It is so-called legendary skin with a little bit of sad history behind it. M4A4 Howl was introduced on May 1st, 2014 as a part of the Huntsman Collection. The red and black color scheme with an image of a wolf’s head and red flaming pattern made this skin one of the best looking in the history of the game. However the skin received the “contraband” quality tag due to the fact that the author of the skin plagiarized the wolf’s head graphic. Before that though, the skin was widely utilized by pro players. No wonder so many gamers wanted to have it. After all, their idols used it. Nowadays it is impossible to drop this skin, hence it is among the rarest and most expensive CS:GO skins. It costs between $3000 and $12 000 (Stat Trak).
10. Case Hardened Skins - AK-47 and Knives
Case Hardened skins are very interesting and at the same time, rather complex topic, so we are going to cover only basic information about it here. In general Case Hardened skins are among the most unique, rarest, most expensive and most valuable for collectors group of skins. In general the price of the skin and look of it depends strictly on the amount and the pattern of the blue paint on it and the most expensive is Case Hardened blue gem. The chance of dropping Case Hardened Blue Gem for either AK-47 or knife is slim to none. No wonder that collectors want to get it so much. They are so rare that it is hard to even provide the estimated price of them. However, it should be noted that the AK-47 Case Hardened Blue Gem has been sold for $150000
Most iconic CS:GO Skins summary
In this article we presented to you 10 most iconic CS:GO skins (at least at this moment). This article has shown that the popularity of a specific skin is based mostly on three factors. The first one is the design itself. People want to have good looking skins there and all of the aforementioned skins look great. Second important factor is the popularity of target skins among pro players. Fan base copies their idols so the skins frequently used by pros are loved by the community. M4A4 Howl and AWP Dragon Lore are primary examples. The third factor is the rarity of the skin. Most of these iconic skins are incredibly hard to get and in case of M4A4 Howl it is impossible to drop them currently. Which leads us to the final point. The popularity of skins constantly shifts. Some of them are removed thus becoming rare, pros constantly switch their skins, so they become popular and new skins are constantly produced. Hence, it is safe to assume that in following years, this list will be completely different.
