The best way to build your CSGO loadout on a budget

by Josse Van Dessel | Feb 23, 2021

Reading Time: 3 min.

While everyone would love to own an AWP Dragon Lore or Gungnir, not everyone can spend thousands of dollars just to flex on their teammates and opponents. But having limited funds doesn’t mean you have to play with default skins. We’ve scanned the community market in search of the best budget skins for the guns you use the most.

We’ve assembled a loadout for the most-used weapons in the game. We did not include a knife or gloves. Due to their rarity, these skins will always be expensive. If you really want to use a knife or glove skin, you’ll have to make a more serious investment.

The best low budget pistol skins

We start off with the pistol skins. All these skins are either red or blue, two colors that go together well and look good in the game.

Some stand out for their simplicity, like the Glock-18 | Candy Apple. This skin is one of the oldest in the game, released in the Italy collection back in 2013. Despite its age, the skin costs less than a dollar in factory new condition.

Another standout skin is the Desert Eagle | Blue Ply. This skin, which looks like it was made out of wood, truly has a unique look to it and will pair up nicely with another AK-47 skin we’ll showcase below.

The Dual Berettas | Urban Shock and the Five-Seven | Urban Hazard have to be considered as a pair. They were made by the same artist, RaekenTheRock, and are part of a series of skins with a similar art style. At the time of writing, these pistol skins would cost you $12 in factory new condition.

The best low budget SMG skins

Looking at the SMG skins, you can see we’ve expanded our collection of Candy Apple skins. The Mac-10 and PP-Bizon follow the same template as the Glock, with a simple but iconic finish using glossy red paint. You could also upgrade these SMG skins with some stickers.

Another fun skin is the Souvenir MP5-SD | Lab Rats. This skin is part of the Danger Zone collection and was released alongside the gun it belongs to, making it the first MP5 skin in the game. It’s famous for its red rat pattern. On a couple of versions of the skin, a red rat appears on either the silencer or the handguard of the gun. A guide to how you can get this red rat pattern can be found here

A skin that breaks with our color theme is the MP7 | Neon Ply. While the gun has red and blue parts, it also boasts different colors. If you’re a Natus Vincere fan you might recognize this skin, as it’s Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s favorite MP7 skin.

At the time of writing, these SMG skins would cost you just shy of $7 in factory new condition.

The best low budget AWP and rifle skins

What skin would fit perfectly with the Desert Eagle | Blue Ply? The AK-47 | Blue Laminate, of course. While this skin is a bit more expensive than most others on this list, it’s worth the investment. The Laminate skins are icons of the game. The red and blue versions of the skin were part of the esport collections in 2013 and helped fund the game’s first majors.

The AWP | Mortis is a criminally underappreciated skin. It’s inspired by a tarot card, and the buttstock is adorned by the grim reaper. Whether you use it to snipe enemies out of the round yourself or drop it to more gifted teammates, the intricate design will garner adoration.

At the time of writing, these rifle skins would cost you a neat $35 in factory new condition.