AWP | Medusa (Minimal Wear)

Minimal Wear (MW) puts the AWP | Medusa in the middle of its scale, the price running about half again in either direction. Wear in this grade falls between 0.07 and 0.15. The rank is Covert, and the finish came with The Gods and Monsters Collection, handed out on the Operation Bloodhound pass.

What the AWP | Medusa looks like in Minimal Wear

The green on the gorgon is pearlescent. It flares on the raised areas and sinks toward turquoise in shadow. The face sits on the stock, and from it snakes run along the side of the receiver in thin loops. The base beneath the artwork is dark blue, nearly black, and the gloss grip matches it. Bare light-gray metal is left on the bolt, trigger guard, magazine well and cheek rest; barrel and scope are dark gray.

Here the pearl is knocked back on the edges alone: the stock corners, the receiver rib and the lip of the cheek rest. Green turns a matte gray-blue in those three places, and that is how the grade is recognized. The face is entirely intact, the pale eyes read, and the snake loops break nowhere on the flats.

Where the AWP | Medusa came from

No Workshop submission stands behind this rifle; it is Valve's own work. The Gods and Monsters Collection, which carries it, was released on May 26, 2015. In Valve's catalog of finishes the artwork is number 446. The announcement presented the pass as a package with a coin and a progress journal, with weapons coming as reward drops.

What to check before buying

Worth checking before paying:

• the float between 0.07 and 0.15, since matte edges show in the preview near the top;


• the state of the pearl on the receiver rib, where the shimmer dies first;


• the name tag and stickers this particular rifle already carries.

Buying here can be almost blind, because the 0.07–0.15 band is tight.

What the AWP | Medusa costs in Minimal Wear

Factory New asks about half again, and Field-Tested comes in cheaper by the same ratio. Below that the price barely moves. Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred sit level, and both differ from the middle of the scale by less than the middle differs from the factory grade.

Among twenty Covert AWPs this finish is third by price. Only AWP | Dragon Lore and AWP | Gungnir stand above it. AWP | The Prince trails by about half again, AWP | Desert Hydra by nearly three times, AWP | Lightning Strike by nearly six.

Getting the AWP | Medusa

No case has ever contained this rifle. It is one of the few CS2 finishes that came only as a playtime reward on an operation pass, long since closed.

A trade-up for it needs ten skins a tier down, same set. That tier holds one skin, the M4A4 | Poseidon, so the input has no alternative and the output is known.

StatTrak and Souvenir

This finish was released with no StatTrak counter and no Souvenir variant.

Stickers and craft on the AWP | Medusa

Only the back half is painted, and a sticker over the pearl kills the shimmer the finish is bought for. Crafts therefore sit nearer the magazine well, on unpainted metal. Warm tones work on the dark blue base, gold and red among them; green stickers merge into the snakes.

Who this wear suits

Minimal Wear is worth buying when:

• the pearl has to be whole and the factory premium is too much;


• the rifle goes into CS2 matches and into inspections, since matte edges show only up close;


• picking by float is not needed, because listings inside the band are nearly identical.

A step down saves little, and the worn grades carry more matte gray-blue on the edges.