These are the rarest skins in CSGO

William Davis Published 17/02/2021

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s skins market is built around the system of supply and demand. When demand is high, and many want to own a certain skin, the price of that skin will go up. And when supply is low, the price of a skin will increase as well.

Certain skins have become so rare that it’s not only expensive to acquire them but close to impossible to find one available. Let’s take a look at four of the rarest CSGO skins in the game.

M4A4 | Howl – Contraband Rifle

The M4A4 | Howl is one-of-akind. It’s the only skin to be labeled as “contraband.” In June of 2014, after being in the game for only one month, the skin was removed from the Huntsman Weapons Case. Apparently, the creators of the skin used a copyrighted artwork and Valve received a DMCA from the original artist.

While the skin was not removed from the game, it became impossible to unbox or use a trade-up contract to get a new Howl. Valve gave the skin the Contraband label, something it hasn’t done since.

Nowadays, owning a Howl is a matter of prestige. Collectors hold on to their valuable objects, and whenever there’s one available, a bidding war ensues.

Souvenir AWP | Dragon Lore – Covert Sniper Rifle

Is there a skin more iconic than the AWP | Dragon Lore? The skin is part of the Cobblestone Collection and can only be acquired through the corresponding packages. These packages are only dropped when the map is played during the Major.

With the map Cobblestone being removed from active duty, new packages will no longer become available. There was a time when the Dragon Lore was obtainable as an operation drop, but Valve no longer uses the Collection as a drop.

Glock-18 | Fade – Restricted Pistol

Just like the dragon Lore, the Glock-18 | Fade is part of a collection linked to a map, Assault. It was released in the Arms Deal update back in 2013 and was available as an in-game drop for a couple of years. But Assault was removed from the game a couple of months after its release, and so was the chance to receive skins from the collection.

At the time of writing, only 10 Glock-18 | Fade skins are listed on the Valve community market. Its rarity and the fact that it has been unobtainable for so long make it a valuable object for collectors.

Negev | Anodized Navy

The Negev | Anodized Navy is a victim of the popularity of the Glock-18 | Fade. The Anodized Navy is used in trade-up contracts for the Fade. And over the past few years, there have been a lot of trade-ups being done to get this skin.

Australian Youtuber TDM_Heyzeus raised awareness for this problem in a video. He called the skin “Critically Endangered.” There are only a couple hundred Anodized Navy’s left and a good portion of them are locked in VAC-banned accounts, according to Heyzeus.

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William Davis

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