Welcome! If you want to know how to get CS:GO cards on Steam, we recommend reading this article to the end. Moreover, nothing happens for nothing at Valve — even in such a simple task you will have to work a little.
Steam trading cards were first introduced back in 2013, having undergone one reincarnation. Unfortunately, Valve decided to redraw the design of achievements for everyone, so it is impossible to find the first revision today. By the way, they looked like this.
The modern variation is more down-to-earth, although no less effective.
However, we are still interested in how to get CS:GO cards on Steam.
The first catch lies in the fact that the player can only get 3 cards out of 5 possible. And which ones exactly — no one knows, complete randomness. The issuing algorithm is designed in such a way that no one gets more than three for free. Do you want to build a collection — you will have to buy the remaining 2 on the trading platform. Fortunately, they only cost $0.01–$0.05, so they won’t hurt your pocket too much.
The second option is to receive cards for free on Steam — exchange with other players or friends. But this is provided that both have something interesting and missing. Otherwise, welcome to the store.
If you managed to get all five — 100 points will automatically be added to your Steam rating, and a first-level profile badge will appear in your collection. In total, you can upgrade the badge to level 5. With each inventory update, a random emoticon or profile background drops. The highest achievement — a foil badge, the total value of which is estimated at $0.30–$0.50, depending on the current market rate.
The received sets of cards in Steam do not have any specific value — just decoration, profile customization and showing off among friends. On the other hand, why not change the appearance of the profile you regularly look at. The dark blue color palette is periodically depressing, but at least there is some variety.
How to Get Trading Cards on Steam
The service algorithm is created in such a way that the entire set of collectible items is granted after 2 hours spent in the purchased game. Previously, Steam worked according to a different scenario:
during the first two hours;
immediately after launch.
The current situation is such that it will not be possible to quickly receive cards on Steam — sit for 120 minutes and only then check the inventory. And as in the case of CS:GO, only half of the collection will drop; the rest can either be purchased or exchanged.
Important: re-downloading and replaying the game will not give anything — the system will think that the reward has already been issued.
If you are dealing with a Free to Play game, then cards will drop only after in-game purchases, at the rate of 1 piece — $9 spent in the in-game store.
What Types of Cards Are There
Since we have figured out how to get cards in Steam games, let's look at their value. These items come in two versions:
regular;
foil.
The latter are distinguished by a gray background and drop with a chance of less than 1%.
But don’t think they are extremely expensive. Versions for CS:GO are quite common. Although there are exceptions. For example, the Uranium Mine card from the game Apex War can cost a lot on the market.
Another type — booster packs. They drop rarely but contain 3 cards at once. You can open or sell them directly. A convenient way for collectors.
How to Craft a Badge from Cards
As mentioned above, CS:GO has 5 levels of regular badges and one foil badge. To craft the first level, you need to collect all cards from the game (5 pieces). When ready, a "Craft Badge" button will appear.
To reach the second level — repeat the operation, but this time you must buy or trade cards. To reach level 5 — prepare 5 sets, costing around $0.50 total.
Important: the foil badge can only be crafted from foil cards.
Emoticons and backgrounds are granted randomly, sometimes in pairs. You can also buy them directly on the LIS-SKINS website, often for less than $0.05.
A bonus — Steam vouchers for discounts during crafting. They look like this:
Also, each time a badge is crafted, a booster from the same game may drop randomly to a user. This is Valve's algorithm — luck-based reward.
For every 10 account levels, Steam grants one additional showcase slot for your profile — great for showing off your progress.
