M4A1-S | Nightmare (Factory New)

Factory New (FN) is the most expensive wear of the M4A1-S | Nightmare, the one where the blue strokes lie over the dark base without a single scuff. The float band of this wear is 0.00 to 0.07. Its rank is Classified, its side is Counter-Terrorist, and its source is the Horizon Case.

What the M4A1-S | Nightmare looks like in Factory New

A dark blue, close to black, forms the base. Over it, across the receiver, handguard, magazine and stock, run elongated light blue strokes that look like claws or scales. A bright blue stripe lies on the barrel between the suppressor and the handguard, while the suppressor and the grip are black.

Valve describes the work as a picture of a frightening night visitor. The artwork does not resolve into a figure: it is a dense mesh of strokes, and the contrast comes from light laid over dark.

In Factory New the dark ground is not rubbed down to bare metal anywhere, and the light lines keep their full brightness. Any scratch shows at once on black paint, so clean condition reads better on this skin than on a light-colored one.

Where the M4A1-S | Nightmare came from

The author is apel8. He put the work “M4A1-S | Nightmare” on the Steam Workshop on October 29, 2017. In the description he asks viewers not to fall asleep, because nobody should be left alone. He names his inspirations as Game of Thrones, Venom, the Lich King and the game Prey.

The skin reached the game on August 1, 2018. In Valve's catalog the finish is number 714.

What to check before buying

On this skin it is worth comparing the following:

• float: the band from 0.00 to 0.07 is narrow, and copies are almost indistinguishable;


• how clean the dark paint is along the edges of the receiver and handguard;


• name tag and stickers, which go with the listing.

Nothing about the artwork is left to chance, and no copy differs from another.

What the M4A1-S | Nightmare costs in Factory New

Every other wear is cheaper than this one:

• Minimal Wear costs nine and a half times less;


• Field-Tested costs more than twenty-three times less;


• Well-Worn costs more than thirty times less;


• Battle-Scarred costs more than thirty times less.

Factory New takes 7% of the skin's scale, yet in price it stands an order of magnitude apart from the rest. The first step down is ninefold, the gap grows after that, and the two lowest wears cost practically the same.

Among fifteen Classified M4A1-S finishes in this wear, the skin is pricier than ten and cheaper than four. M4A1-S | Atomic Alloy costs almost the same, and M4A1-S | Fatal Glitch is more than twice as cheap. M4A1-S | Blue Phosphor costs two and a half times as much, M4A1-S | Hot Rod six times, and M4A1-S | Knight almost fourteen times.

Getting the M4A1-S | Nightmare

The Horizon Case is the only source, and no other case holds this skin. A trade-up for it takes ten skins one rank lower, all from this collection. The collection has three Classified skins, so the odds on this one are one in three.

The skin itself goes into a contract for a Covert skin of the collection: AK-47 | Neon Rider or Desert Eagle | Code Red.

StatTrak and Souvenir

The M4A1-S | Nightmare comes in a StatTrak version. No Souvenir packages were ever released for this finish, since those existed only for tournament map collections. You can still make a Souvenir copy yourself: the Souvenir-O-Matic puts gold tournament stickers and a player autograph on an ordinary skin from your inventory. That is why a few Souvenir copies turn up now and then, even where no packages ever existed.

Stickers and craft on the M4A1-S | Nightmare

The dark ground takes light and yellow stickers well, and in Factory New they look crisp. Blue stickers repeat the color of the strokes and get lost. The free areas are the suppressor, the grip and the rear end of the stock. For a CS2 craft, it is better to leave the side with the strokes uncovered.

Who this wear suits

Factory New on the M4A1-S | Nightmare is worth buying if:

• you want an M4A1-S with untouched dark paint and bright blue lines;


• the price gap between wears does not bother you, since it pays for clean condition;


• the skin is meant for close inspection in your CS2 inventory.

If cleanliness does not matter, Minimal Wear costs almost ten times less.