Every CS2 skin has a colored rarity, from the white of a Consumer Grade gun to the red of a Covert and the gold of a knife. The color tells you how often the skin drops, what it can be traded up into and roughly where it sits in price. Here is every tier, what the odds are in a case, and how rarity differs from StatTrak and Souvenir.
The weapon skin tiers
| Rarity | Color | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Grade | White / grey | Collections and drops, never cases |
| Industrial Grade | Light blue | Collections and drops, never cases |
| Mil-Spec | Blue | Cases, collections, drops |
| Restricted | Purple | Cases, collections, drops |
| Classified | Pink | Cases, collections |
| Covert | Red | Cases, collections |
| Knives and gloves | Gold | Cases (the gold slot), Terminals, knife trade-ups |
| Contraband | Orange | Only the M4A4 | Howl |
In the game, knives carry a star and the Covert label, and gloves are marked Extraordinary. On the case roll both show up as the gold slot, which is why players simply call them “golds”.
The odds in a case
Cases only contain the five top tiers. Valve’s published odds, as compiled by SteamDB:
| Tier | Chance per case | About one in |
|---|---|---|
| Mil-Spec | 79.92% | 1.25 cases |
| Restricted | 15.98% | 6 cases |
| Classified | 3.20% | 31 cases |
| Covert | 0.64% | 156 cases |
| Knife or gloves | 0.26% | 385 cases |
Each step up is roughly five times rarer than the one below. The odds are the same for every case: what changes is how many skins share each tier. Recent cases like the Fever Case have 7 Mil-Specs, 5 Restricted, 3 Classifieds and 2 Coverts, so one specific Covert is a 0.32% hit. Across the 42 cases in our case database there are 262 Mil-Spec, 193 Restricted, 123 Classified and 79 Covert skins. Our case odds guide goes deeper into what that means for the value of a case.
Why Contraband is special
Contraband exists because of one skin. The M4A4 | Howl was pulled from its case after Valve found its artwork had been copied, and the skins already in players’ inventories were relabeled Contraband. No new Howls can be unboxed, and it cannot be used in or produced by a trade-up. That fixed supply is why it stays one of the most expensive guns in the game.
Rarity and trade-ups
Rarity is also the ladder for trade-up contracts: ten skins of one rarity give one skin of the next. Consumer goes to Industrial, up through Classified to Covert. Covert is the top for normal contracts, but since October 2025 five Coverts can go into a knife trade-up for a knife or gloves.
Rarity is not quality
Two labels often get mixed up with rarity:
- StatTrak adds a kill counter. About 10% of case drops are StatTrak, but the skin keeps its rarity: a StatTrak Covert is still Covert.
- Souvenir skins come with tournament stickers from Major events. They are a version of the skin, not a tier, and a skin cannot be both StatTrak and Souvenir.
Wear (Factory New to Battle-Scarred) is separate again: it changes the look and price, never the rarity.
Other items have their own scales
Stickers, agents and other items use different names for their tiers. Stickers go High Grade (blue), Remarkable (purple), Exotic (pink) and Extraordinary (red), plus one Contraband sticker. Agents go Distinguished, Exceptional, Superior and Master. Do not compare them with weapon skins by color alone.
What rarity tells you about price
Rarity tells you how often a skin drops, not what it costs. Demand, wear and StatTrak move prices within every tier, and a popular skin can outprice a rarer one that nobody wants. Use rarity to understand how often something drops, and check the market for what it is worth. To see the tiers in action, open a few cases in our free case simulator.
