StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex (Field-Tested)

The StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex in Field-Tested (FT) is the kill-counter version, and the cheapest of the six Classified USP-S skins that carry a counter. It drops from the Clutch Case, and the counter lifts its price to roughly double that of the regular version.

What the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex looks like in Field-Tested

The slide is pale, the color of bone, with wavy turquoise-green lines along its side. Pink curls that resemble bubble gum wind over it. The suppressor is dark brown, with a large "USP" in bubbly pink letters across it. The frame and trigger guard are rusty brown. On the grip sits a turquoise skull with a pink puff rising from it, and a spine with ribs below.

This wear gives the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex a band of 0.15 to 0.38. Wear is set at drop and never changes over time, and the wide band leaves room for copies that look different from one another.

Where the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex came from

The finish came from the Steam Workshop: Glasgow died posted the submission "USP-S CUT" on August 7, 2015. The author explained the idea like this: an accurate, quiet USP can be compared to a scalpel in a surgeon's hand, hence the cut-open skull. The pink "brains", he said, are simply chewing gum.

The StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex first appeared on February 14, 2018, when The Clutch Collection was added to the game. Its number in Valve's catalog of finishes is 705.

What to check before buying

Before paying for a StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex, check these:

• the counter reading, which stays on the copy and does not change how the pistol looks;


• the float: the closer to 0.15, the cleaner the copy;


• stickers and a name tag already applied to this StatTrak copy.

Copies differ only in wear and counter reading, since the artwork is shared. The band from 0.15 to 0.38 leaves a real choice, and copies nearer 0.15 are cleaner.

What the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex costs in Field-Tested

The kill counter roughly doubles the price against the regular version in the same wear. Neighboring wears with a counter line up like this:

• Factory New is almost five times higher;


• Minimal Wear is almost double;


• Well-Worn is about a sixth lower;


• Battle-Scarred is also about a sixth lower.

Among Classified USP-S skins with a counter, this is the cheapest. Next comes StatTrak™ USP-S | Jawbreaker, only a few percent higher. StatTrak™ USP-S | Monster Mashup costs three and a half times as much, and StatTrak™ USP-S | Caiman four and a half times. Of the three Classified skins in The Clutch Collection that carry a counter, this one is the most expensive: StatTrak™ AWP | Mortis and StatTrak™ AUG | Stymphalian cost less.

Getting the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex

The Clutch Case gives out both versions, the regular and the StatTrak one. There is no separate StatTrak case.

A trade-up for the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex takes ten skins one rank below, from the same collection. All ten must carry a counter, because the game does not mix regular and StatTrak skins. The collection has three Classified skins, so the chance of this pistol is one in three.

StatTrak and Souvenir

A regular USP-S | Cortex without the counter is a separate product with its own page and its own price; in Field-Tested it is about half as expensive. A Souvenir edition cannot be combined with the counter, since the game has no StatTrak Souvenir items.

Stickers and craft on the StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex

The pale slide takes dark stickers, while pink and red ones get lost among the curls. Turquoise and white stickers pick up the wavy lines and the bone color. The suppressor with its pink lettering leaves almost no room, so the free areas are the front of the slide and the trigger guard.

Who this wear suits

The StatTrak™ USP-S | Cortex makes sense in exactly this wear when:

• you want a kill counter on a Classified USP-S for CS2 at the lowest price among such versions;


• the pink skull artwork matters more to you than untouched edges;


• a pale slide that takes dark stickers fits your CS2 setup.

For a less worn look there is Minimal Wear, which with a counter costs almost double.