The AWP is CS2's premier sniper rifle, capable of a one-shot kill almost anywhere on the body, and its skins span the game's entire price range as a result: from Pit Viper at a dollar or two to Gungnir and Dragon Lore at $12,000+ Factory New. AWP has more than 50 finishes outside StatTrak versions, and this tier list ranks them by market logic rather than looks: entry price, price ceiling, and liquidity, the same approach we used in our knife tier list. The best balance of prestige and reasonable cost is Medusa, running from about $1,830 at the low end to $5,100 Factory New. Below, every finish by tier: how it looks, where it came from, which wears exist, and what it costs right now.
How the Tiers Work
This ranks finishes, not the rifle itself: every player has the same AWP, but there are more than fifty paint jobs for it, and the market prices them very differently. The main criterion is the price ceiling (what Factory New, or the rarest available wear, costs), with entry price and liquidity carrying less weight. Medusa's ceiling (about $5,100) is well above The Prince's (about $2,900), for instance, which is why Medusa lands in S-tier and The Prince in A even though their entry prices are close. This is an editorial cut based on market data, not a rigid formula; the real market doesn't reduce to one variable. S-tier holds the highest-ceiling grails, C-tier the cheapest entry. All prices below are starting prices, "from" the cheapest available wear.
Gungnir — S-Tier
AWP | Gungnir is the single most expensive AWP skin on the market and one of the priciest skins in CS2 outright. The gold rune pattern over a dark blue base is instantly recognizable, and it never came from a case: the finish belongs to The Norse Collection, which Valve listed directly among Operation Shattered Web's new collections back in 2019. The operation has been over for years, so no new copies enter circulation anymore, and everything on the market today is an old copy changing hands.
There's no StatTrak version, and all five wears exist, but supply is thin: Battle-Scarred typically has only a handful of listings at any time. Prices start around $7,830 for Battle-Scarred and climb to about $12,610 for Factory New. The lack of new supply tends to support the price, though the market never guarantees that.
Dragon Lore — S-Tier
AWP | Dragon Lore is the most recognizable skin in all of CS2 and shorthand for an expensive inventory. The fiery dragon etched into the stock belongs to The Cobblestone Collection and never dropped from a case: beyond the well-known Souvenir copies handed out at Cobblestone majors from 2014 through 2018, ordinary non-Souvenir copies exist too.
All five wears exist, and there's no StatTrak version. Cobblestone was pulled from the active map pool long ago, so fresh copies barely enter the market anymore, and nearly everything trading today is a resale. Prices start around $4,350 for Battle-Scarred and reach about $12,390 Factory New, one of the widest wear-to-wear gaps on this list, so even a battered copy is a serious purchase.
Medusa — S-Tier
AWP | Medusa is a serpent motif over a gold base, also added outside the case system: it belongs to The Gods and Monsters Collection, one of the exclusive collections tied to Operation Bloodhound in 2015. Pass holders received a weapon drop for their first weekly rank-up during the operation, and Medusa was one of the possible rewards.
All five wears exist, and there's no StatTrak version. The operation's direct source has been closed for years, so most of the supply now trades on the secondary market; a handful of fresh copies could theoretically still surface through trade-up contracts. The practical floor sits around $1,830 for Well-Worn (Battle-Scarred listings are so thin that their pricing isn't stable), while Factory New runs about $5,100. That makes Medusa notably more accessible than Gungnir or Dragon Lore while still carrying full grail status.
The Prince — A-Tier
AWP | The Prince is a red-and-gold enamel finish with an ornate pattern, part of The Canals Collection. Like Gungnir, it arrived through Operation Shattered Web in 2019 — Valve listed Canals among the same operation's new collections. The operation is long closed, so the skin now exists only on the secondary market.
All five wears exist, and there's no StatTrak version. A reliable range runs from about $2,040 for Field-Tested to about $2,900 Factory New: Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred listings are so thin (literally a couple of offers) that their prices aren't a useful signal, and paying a premium for either isn't worth it.
Desert Hydra — A-Tier
AWP | Desert Hydra is a golden multi-headed hydra over a dark base, part of the 2021 Mirage Collection. There's no case: it comes from Mirage Souvenir Packages at majors, starting with Stockholm 2021 and continuing through Budapest 2025.
All five wears exist, and there's no StatTrak version. Prices run from about $1,130 for Well-Worn to about $1,590 Factory New. Since souvenir packages keep coming with every new Mirage major, fresh supply is a bit wider here than for older grails like Dragon Lore.
CMYK — A-Tier
AWP | CMYK splits the stock into printer-style color blocks, a nod to the CMYK color model. It's one of the newest skins on this list: part of The Graphic Design Collection, added in October 2024 and available through Armory, where a player buys an Armory Pass, earns Armory Credits from in-match XP, and spends the credits on rewards, CMYK among them, with no cases and no random opening involved.
All five wears exist, with no StatTrak version. Prices start around $110 for Battle-Scarred and reach about $750 Factory New, a wide gap across wears, so a clean copy costs a real premium.
Fade — A-Tier
AWP | Fade is the same smooth chrome-to-color transition that defines every Fade finish in CS2. It belongs to The Control Collection: during Operation Broken Fang in December 2020, players earned mission stars and spent them in the operation's reward shop, and this collection was one of the redemption options — the skin was never handed out directly for ranking up, it had to be bought with saved stars.
Fade only comes in Factory New and Minimal Wear; no other wear exists, and there's no StatTrak version. That short list breaks the usual pricing logic: Factory New runs about $860 and Minimal Wear about $900, meaning the lightly worn copy actually costs more than the pristine one, a rare reversal for CS2.
LongDog — A-Tier
AWP | LongDog is a cartoonish long dog over a dark background, one of the newest AWP skins around. It's part of The Train 2025 Collection, which was available through Armory (an Armory Pass and Armory Credits earned through play could be exchanged for it) and also shipped as Souvenir Packages from the Austin 2025 and Budapest 2025 majors. On August 3, 2026, Valve pulled The Train 2025 Collection from Armory, so no new copies arrive through credits anymore, and the market and existing souvenir stock are what's left.
All five wears exist, and there's no StatTrak version. Prices start around $60 for Battle-Scarred and reach about $560 Factory New. Supply here is some of the widest in this list, well over a thousand listings across all wears combined, though listing count alone doesn't guarantee an instant sale at the price you want.
Oni Taiji — A-Tier
AWP | Oni Taiji is a stylized Japanese demon mask over a blue background, dropping from the Operation Hydra Case (2017). StatTrak exists, and all five wears are available.
Prices start around $290 for Field-Tested and reach about $600 Factory New. It's one of the few A-tier skins you can still realistically pull from a case rather than only buy off another player.
Silk Tiger — B-Tier
AWP | Silk Tiger is an orange-and-black tiger pattern over a lacquered base, part of The Havoc Collection. Like Fade, it came through Operation Broken Fang's star system in December 2020 rather than a case.
Its rarity is Classified, one step below most of the skins on this list, but it still prices above plenty of Covert finishes: from about $180 for Battle-Scarred to about $620 Factory New. No StatTrak version exists.
Containment Breach — B-Tier
AWP | Containment Breach is a biohazard-style yellow-and-black pattern with warning markings, from the Shattered Web Case (2019). StatTrak exists, and all five wears are available.
Prices start around $50 for Battle-Scarred and reach about $510 Factory New, one of the widest relative wear-to-wear gaps in B-tier, so the budget and top-end copies look almost like two different skins.
Queen's Gambit — B-Tier
AWP | Queen's Gambit is a chess-style pattern of white and black pieces, the newest skin on this list. It's part of The Dead Hand Collection (17 weapon finishes and 22 gloves) from 2026, sold through the Dead Hand Terminal, not a case with a random drop, but a storefront where finishes are bought directly. StatTrak exists, and all five wears are available.
Prices run from about $40 for Battle-Scarred to about $260 Factory New. Supply is wide across nearly every wear, making it one of the more liquid picks in B-tier.
Printstream — B-Tier
AWP | Printstream is the same black-and-white halftone design already familiar from Desert Eagle and M4A4. On the AWP it comes from the Fever Case (2025), the newest case on this list. StatTrak exists, and all five wears are available.
Prices start around $40 for Battle-Scarred and reach about $230 Factory New. It's a young skin, but the familiar design already carries demand from owners of the same finish on other weapons.
Hyper Beast — B-Tier
AWP | Hyper Beast is a dense pattern of stylized animal motifs, dropping from the Falchion Case (2015). StatTrak exists, and all five wears are available.
Prices start around $30 for Well-Worn and reach about $210 Factory New. It's one of the oldest case skins for the AWP and still holds steady demand a decade later.
Wildfire — B-Tier
AWP | Wildfire is orange-and-black flames licking up the barrel, from the CS20 Case (2019), released for Counter-Strike's twentieth anniversary. StatTrak exists, and all five wears are available.
Prices run from about $40 for Battle-Scarred to about $190 Factory New, one of the more affordable Covert case skins for the AWP, with a look that's still easy to spot.
Asiimov — C-Tier
AWP | Asiimov is the orange-and-white sci-fi shell, one of the most recognizable skins in CS:GO and CS2 history, dropping from the Operation Phoenix Weapon Case (2014). It only comes in three wears, though: Field-Tested, Well-Worn, and Battle-Scarred. Factory New and Minimal Wear simply don't exist for this finish.
That's exactly why Asiimov sits in C-tier on pure price despite its fame: about $70 for Battle-Scarred up to about $120 for Field-Tested, a modest ceiling. StatTrak exists. People buy it for the look and the history, not for price growth.
Redline — C-Tier
AWP | Redline is a black body with a red stripe down the barrel, from the Winter Offensive Weapon Case (2013), one of the oldest cases in the game. Its rarity is Classified, and only three wears exist: Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, and Well-Worn. Neither Factory New nor Battle-Scarred exists for Redline.
Prices run from about $40 for Field-Tested to about $90 for Minimal Wear. StatTrak exists. A simple, dependable budget pick with no surprises.
Electric Hive — C-Tier
AWP | Electric Hive is a yellow-and-black hive-and-lightning pattern from the eSports 2013 Winter Case, one of the oldest cases in CS:GO and CS2. Its rarity is Classified, and it comes in Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, and Well-Worn. Battle-Scarred doesn't exist.
Prices start around $30 for Field-Tested and reach about $140 Factory New. StatTrak exists. One of the oldest AWP skins still on the market, with steady but modest demand.
Atheris — C-Tier
AWP | Atheris is a green-and-black snake pattern from the Prisma Case (2019). Its rarity is Restricted, all five wears exist, and StatTrak is available.
Prices start around $3 for Battle-Scarred and reach about $60 Factory New, one of the more affordable full case skins for the AWP and a solid budget entry into the model.
Pit Viper — C-Tier
AWP | Pit Viper is a yellow-brown snake camo, part of The Italy Collection. There's no case: it shipped as Souvenir Packages from DreamHack 2013 and EMS One 2014, and Italy hasn't hosted a major since, so everything on the market today is a resale.
Factory New doesn't exist for Pit Viper at all — only Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, Well-Worn, and Battle-Scarred are available. There's no StatTrak version. It's the cheapest AWP skin in the game: about $1 for Field-Tested up to about $1.50 for Minimal Wear.
Getting an AWP Skin
Most B and C-tier skins have a case: Oni Taiji drops from the Operation Hydra Case, Containment Breach from the Shattered Web Case, Hyper Beast from the Falchion Case, Wildfire from the CS20 Case, and Printstream from the Fever Case. Asiimov, Redline, Electric Hive, and Atheris are case skins too, just from older boxes. The exceptions are Silk Tiger (earned through Operation Broken Fang's star system), Queen's Gambit (bought directly through the Dead Hand Terminal rather than dropped from a case), and Pit Viper (only ever available as Souvenir Packages from the Italy Collection's 2013 and 2014 majors); none of these three ever had a case. The odds on any single finish from a case opening are low, so for a specific finish or pattern it's often cheaper to buy a finished listing than to gamble on cases.
Every S and A-tier skin except Oni Taiji skips the case entirely: Gungnir and The Prince came through Operation Shattered Web in 2019, Medusa through Operation Bloodhound in 2015, Fade through Operation Broken Fang's star system, and CMYK and LongDog were available through Armory Passes and Armory Credits (LongDog's Armory availability ended on August 3, 2026). All of those operations and Armory cycles are closed for good, so no fresh copies come through them anymore. A standard trade-up contract (ten skins of one quality yield a random skin of the next rarity from the same collection) could in theory produce one of these AWPs if you feed it skins from the right collection and rarity, but the outcome is random and can't target a specific finish, so the market stays the practical route to buy the exact skin you want.
What Determines an AWP Skin's Tier
A few factors drive AWP skin prices, roughly in order of weight:
Constrained new supply. Gungnir, Dragon Lore, Medusa, The Prince, Desert Hydra, CMYK, Fade, LongDog, and Pit Viper never sold in a case, and the closed operations and Armory windows they came through are long gone. New supply is tightly constrained (trade-up contracts could theoretically still add the odd copy, but that's luck, not a supply channel).
How many wears exist. Asiimov, Redline, Electric Hive, and Pit Viper have no Factory New (some skip Minimal Wear too), which caps the price ceiling hard even at Covert rarity. Fade only has two wears at all, so its floor and ceiling sit close together.
Float. Float visibly moves the price on most AWP skins: the cleaner the wear, the more it costs, and the Factory New-to-Battle-Scarred gap on the top skins runs into the thousands of dollars.
StatTrak. On case skins, the kill-counter version usually costs noticeably more than the plain one; skins without a case simply don't have a StatTrak version at all.
Liquidity. LongDog and Queen's Gambit carry hundreds of listings across nearly every wear, which usually makes selling easier, while thin spots like Gungnir's Battle-Scarred (literally a handful of listings) trade with a much wider spread. Listing count doesn't guarantee sale speed, but it does set how deep the market is.
Comparing AWP Skins by Tier
Every skin from this tier list in one table, from S-tier down to the cheapest entry point:
| Skin | Tier | Price From | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gungnir | S | $7,830 | The single priciest AWP grail |
| Dragon Lore | S | $4,350 | The most recognizable skin in CS2 |
| Medusa | S | $1,830 | A grail below the top pair on price |
| The Prince | A | $2,040 | A rare caseless finish with history |
| Desert Hydra | A | $1,130 | Fresh Mirage souvenir supply |
| CMYK | A | $110 | A bold, modern-looking finish |
| Fade | A | $860 | Only two wears, both clean |
| LongDog | A | $60 | One of the widest supplies here |
| Oni Taiji | A | $290 | The one case skin in A-tier |
| Silk Tiger | B | $180 | Classified priced above many Coverts |
| Containment Breach | B | $50 | A big jump between wears |
| Queen's Gambit | B | $40 | Wide supply at every wear |
| Printstream | B | $40 | A design familiar from other weapons |
| Hyper Beast | B | $30 | Steady demand a decade in |
| Wildfire | B | $40 | An affordable Covert entry point |
| Asiimov | C | $70 | Iconic looks, no Factory New |
| Redline | C | $40 | A simple budget pick |
| Electric Hive | C | $30 | One of the oldest AWP skins |
| Atheris | C | $3 | An affordable case entry |
| Pit Viper | C | $1 | The cheapest AWP skin in the game |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which AWP skin is the best?
On prestige, history, and price ceiling, three S-tier skins lead the pack: Gungnir, Dragon Lore, and Medusa. Go with Gungnir or Dragon Lore for maximum status, or Medusa if you want grail status at a more reasonable price.
What's the cheapest way to get an AWP skin?
Pit Viper is the most accessible: wears from Field-Tested through Battle-Scarred run about a dollar, putting it among the cheapest skins in CS2 overall. Among skins with a real case, Atheris is the cheapest entry at around $3.
Is an AWP skin worth buying as an investment?
Skins without a case (Gungnir, Dragon Lore, Medusa, The Prince, Desert Hydra, CMYK, Fade, LongDog) receive noticeably fewer new copies than the case skins in B and C-tier, which can support price, but that's one variable, not a guarantee. Without checking the price history of the specific skin, treating constrained supply as the only argument for an investment isn't a safe bet.
What sets S-tier apart from the rest?
S-tier is the three skins with the highest price ceiling (from about $5,100 and up Factory New): Gungnir, Dragon Lore, and Medusa. A-tier's ceiling runs lower, roughly $560 to $2,900, even though most of its skins also skip the case. B and C-tier are the more accessible entry points, and part of C-tier has no Factory New at all.
