★ Karambit

The ★ Karambit without a skin is the bare karambit in CS2, with no finish on it, and the listing marks it as not painted. Covert rank, with the ★ mark. It has no wear, float or pattern, and every copy is identical.

What the ★ Karambit looks like

The blade is a sharply curved claw: the point bends back, and the cutting edge runs along the inner arc. The steel is light and shiny, and a pale glint slides into gray along the blade. A small logo with green lettering sits at the base of the blade.

The handle is black and grainy, with deep finger grooves and a ribbed spine. At the bottom is a ring for the index finger. The handle and ring stay black, and only the steel is light.

How the plain ★ Karambit differs from a skinned one

On a skinned Karambit, buyers look at wear, float and the Doppler phase. The unpainted one is free of all that:

• there is no wear, so no float band to quote;


• there are no phases, gems or pattern;


• a name tag can be applied, and the name survives resale;


• stickers cannot be applied to knives.

There is only one choice: the ordinary Karambit or the one with a counter.

What the ★ Karambit costs

Among Karambit skins, the unpainted one sits in the lower part of the line by its starting "from" price: twenty-one skins cost less and thirteen cost more. Right below it are Marble Fade (a difference of about two percent), Slaughter (cheaper by an eighth) and Tiger Tooth (by a seventh).

Higher up come Doppler in the Phase 3, Phase 1 and Phase 4 variants. They cost more than the unpainted knife by a fifth, a quarter and almost a third respectively. The top of the line is Gamma Doppler Emerald (more than seven times as much), Doppler Ruby (almost eight) and Doppler Black Pearl (almost nine).

Is there a StatTrak version

Yes: the StatTrak™ Karambit is sold as a separate listing. The counter stays on the knife as it is. The version with a counter costs a couple of percent more than the ordinary one, which is practically level.

Getting the ★ Karambit

The Karambit drops as a rare special item from eleven cases, listed here in alphabetical order:

• CS:GO Weapon Case;


• CS:GO Weapon Case 2;


• CS:GO Weapon Case 3;


• eSports 2013 Case;


• eSports 2013 Winter Case;


• eSports 2014 Summer Case;


• Operation Bravo Case;


• Operation Phoenix Weapon Case;


• Operation Vanguard Weapon Case;


• Revolver Case;


• Winter Offensive Weapon Case.

Bare steel sits among the possible outcomes of an opening on equal terms with the skins, and it cannot be picked. A trade-up contract gives a second route: five Covert skins, with a rare special item of a random model at the end. The lot you need is easier to buy ready-made on LIS-SKINS.

Who it suits

The ★ Karambit without a skin fits if:

• you want a Karambit for its shape, with no extra colors;


• you want a lot without float or phase, so that the model alone sets the price;


• you would rather not pay for Doppler and Gamma Doppler, which stand at the top of this model's line.