Flip Knife Case Hardened: Blue Gem Seed Patterns
The Flip Knife was first released for Counter-Strike 2 in 2013 as part of the Arms Deal update, alongside 4 other knives each with 10 different skin variations, one of which was the Case Hardened finish. For the most part of its existence, the Flip Knife has been a mid-tier option, but more recently, some of its high-tier finishes such as the Doppler Ruby and Gamma Doppler Emerald variations are regularly seen being used by professional players in CS2 Majors.
The knife comes with a nice equip animation where your agent flips a button to release the thin curved blade. One advantage of choosing Flip knives is that they look comparatively cleaner even in Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred wear conditions than their counterparts, costing a lot less. The most expensive variant for the Flip Knife, however, remains the #1 Blue Gem seed pattern for the Case Hardened finish.
So why is this Blue Gem even more expensive than the Doppler Ruby or Gamma Doppler Emerald when those already look so amazing? To help answer this question and many more related to Case Hardened skins such as why some of them are so expensive and rare, why some are so talked about and some so highly valued, what this finish is all about, and its historical significance, we will cover each aspect one by one so that you have all the information you’ve been looking for, and quite possibly, get your very own Blue Gem.
List Of Flip Knife Case Hardened Patterns By Tier
If you already own a Flip Knife Case Hardened and want to know how much it’s worth, or searching the online marketplaces trying to find a good pattern for the finish, you’re at the right place. We have a comprehensive list of all the Case Hardened finishes for the Flip Knife divided into tiers. Some patterns from a particular tier are more expensive and rarer than others. Before we explain the reasons for that, check out all Blue Gems for the Flip Knife below:
| Group | Pattern Seeds |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 670, 321, 151, 592, 661, 555 |
| Tier 2 | 828, 955, 179, 387, 844, 168, 868, 363, 969, 750, 823, 103, 760 |
| Tier 3 | 996, 791, 905, 169, 695, 532, 577, 879, 770, 733, 715, 209, 872, 526, 456, 13, 681, 430, 189, 112, 887, 689, 28, 628, 228, 137, 878, 922, 4, 768, 479, 961, 690, 278, 429, 325 |
| Tier 4 | 557, 426, 935, 892, 349, 575, 704, 648, 888, 724, 147, 481, 403, 450, 850, 775, 281, 82, 428, 396, 497, 795, 126, 2, 525, 344, 985, 81, 512, 468, 381, 74, 434, 849, 862, 847, 809, 310, 698, 447, 927, 65, 790, 948, 685, 453, 200, 978, 236, 970, 894, 306, 235, 645, 950, 172, 139, 519, 202, 333, 14, 149, 782, 814, 227, 463, 617, 9, 397, 389, 92, 178, 442, 493, 470, 708, 215, 261, 627, 443, 622, 564, 122, 34, 286, 187, 806, 843, 242, 48, 558, 788, 322 |
Our ranking has been divided into 4 tiers, each with different seed patterns. In higher tiers such as tier 1 and 2, the blue stains from the Case Hardened finish are found in the highest quantities, while their quantity in tiers 3 and 4 diminishes. Blue is the most highly prized color in the Case Hardened finish and proportionally generates the highest premiums over and above the average market price for the Case Hardened skins.
What Is The Case Hardened Finish?
The Case Hardened finish was one of the premier finishes released for the AK-47 and 5 different knives in 2013 as part of the Arms Deal update. It soon gained huge popularity among the fanbase and has since seen every collector worth his salt trying to get their hands on a decent pattern. The Case Hardened pattern comes from a pre-designed color sheet with a variety of mottled colors such as blue, purple, and a dull gold layered on top of a gray base. A design from this color sheet is transferred on the weapons in a cookie-cutter style, giving each skin a unique pattern from a thousand different variations available.
The most highly sought color is blue, with the dull gold and gray being the least desirable. A Knife with the majority of its playside blade covered in blue is the most expensive variant from the Case Hardened finish and can fetch price premiums that may run into tens of thousands of Dollars, while a knife with mostly gold or gray will be at its average market price. The wear conditions do not have any considerable influence on the finish expect that on higher floats such as Field-Tested and above, the surface gets a darker tinge.
What Inspired The Case Hardened As a Weapon Finish In CS2?
In the late 17th century, weapon manufacturers were faced with a challenge. The weapons they made seemed to break often during battles either from extensive use or from impacts on the battlefield. After prolonged research, the low carbon content in the steel being used in gun manufacturing was narrowed down as the cause. The manufacturers decided to use animal hides and bones as an easy source of adding the missing carbon content to the steel. They achieved this by putting the two together in boxes made of ceramic or other hard material and blasting them in a furnace. The high temperatures would cause the bones and skin to vaporize and release carbon, which in turn would penetrate and coat the steel surface forming a shell and thus strengthening it. Once this step was complete, the hot steel would then be dipped in a tub of water which was pre-agitated with air bubbles for cooling. These bubbles would give a mottled effect of colors to the steel surface, the same as the effect found on all Case Hardened skins in-game.
What Is a Blue Gem Case Hardened Skin?
A Case Hardened skin with the majority of its playside, that is, the part visible to the player during gameplay, covered in the blue stains from the Case Hardened finish, is referred to as a Blue Gem skin. Blue Gems from the Tier 1 patterns of a Case Hardened finish are very rare, highly sought by skin collectors, have been extensively talked about by CS2 YouTubers and can net substantially great overpays that at times may be several dozen times over the average market price.
How Valuable Are These Blue Gem Skins?
The value of a Blue Gem varies with the weapon it’s on. The most highly valued Blue Gem is that of a Karambit in Factory New condition with the seed pattern #387, which is the number one Blue Gem pattern for the particular knife. Initially purchased for USD 100k by a Chinese skin collector, it has been put on sale by him with an asking price of USD 1.5 million. Although it has currently remained unsold, judging by past sales figures for some weapons, it seems only to be a matter of time before the record is broken for the highest amount paid for a CS2 weapon skin once someone purchases it.
But as with all things CS2, when even minor nuances can have an influence on the prices of skins, it comes as no surprise that not every Blue Gem knife will be that expensive. For a Navaja Blue Gem for instance, the price may only be around the USD 4k mark, equivalent to a top-tier knife in a top-tier finish that is not a Blue Gem, such as a Karambit Doppler in Phase 2.
However, it must be noted that the Blue Gem patterns for each respective skin are probably the most expensive finish. For example, the Blue Gem Case Hardened Ursus Knife will be the most expensive skin compared to any other Ursus Knife, the Navaja Blue Gem Case Hardened will be the most expensive Navaja Knife, and so on.
The number one reason for this is that the Blue Gem variant for any knife is probably the hardest to acquire, and is one of the rarest patterns, even more so than the rare Doppler phases such as the Sapphires, Rubies, and Emeralds. By some estimates, it may take close to 3.7 million case unboxings on average to come across the best Blue Gem pattern for a knife.
How Much Is a Blue Gem Flip Knife Worth?
The Blue Gem Case Hardened Tier 1 patterns for the Flip Knife may cost anywhere between USD 5-10k by rough estimates. The #1 Blue Gem Case Hardened seed pattern #670 in Well-Worn condition is currently owned by Krieke, a renowned Belgian Blue Gem skin collector. Tier 2 variants may be slightly more affordable and have been seen listed on online marketplaces for a little over USD 1k.
How Can I Get a Blue Gem Flip Knife?
Blue Gems can be acquired in a number of ways. One such method is to scour the third-party marketplaces to find the pattern you are looking for, and although you may come across Tier 2 seed patterns for the Flip Knife quite easily, the #1 seed pattern and other Tier 1 patterns may be harder to find. Out of all the marketplaces, the Steam Community Market probably stands as the least viable option for Tier 1 patterns, since the selling cap of USD 2k deters potential sellers from listing their items there. As such, third-party marketplaces stand to be better options.
Another method could be to reach out to community members and seek trades with potential sellers of Tier 1 or 2 seed patterns.
The costliest method out of all these, even more so than paying the asking price of a seller, is to try and unbox one for yourself. There are a total of 11 cases in which the Case Hardened Flip Knife can be found, which are as listed below:
- CS2 Weapon Case
- CS2 Weapon Case 2
- CS2 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
Of all the case options listed above, 3 of the cases, namely the eSports 2013 Case, the eSports 2013 Winter Case, and the eSports 2014 Summer Case have been discontinued from the drop pool and are therefore available in extremely limited quantities. All other cases are in the rare drop pool, with the cheapest options being the Revolver and the Operation Vanguard Case. The rest of the cases have limited numbers listed with prices too exorbitant for many to even consider unboxing.
Even with the cheapest case, the Revolver case, the chances of unboxing a knife start at 0.26%, to then to get a Flip Knife from 4 other possible Knife drops, and then to unbox a Case Hardened from 10 other finishes are infinitesimally small. As has been mentioned in previous articles, unboxing a Blue Gem Case Hardened is even rarer than unboxing other rare finishes such as Doppler Rubies or Sapphires.
Flip Knife: Case Hardened
The Flip Knife with a good Case Hardened seed pattern is a worthwhile investment that stands to grow over the coming years considering how hard it is becoming to unbox one. Current market prices are slightly on the higher side compared to other mid-tier knives for the Case Hardened finish, but have an overall higher outlook for growth as well. The Flip Knife Case Hardened finish comes in all wears starting from Factory New (0.00) to Battle-Scarred (1.00). With higher wears, the colors of the Case Hardened pattern turn a darker hue, but this is less noticeable on the Flip Knife than on other knives. If you are looking to find the most bang for your buck, a Flip Knife Case Hardened would be an ideal choice. Take a look at the various market offers for the skin below:
Concluding Remarks
Blue Gem patterns for any knife in CS2 can generate substantial overpay above the average market price for the particular weapon, and one of the reasons for this is their rarity. These are the hardest patterns to unbox and it may take millions of unboxings to come across one. It is no wonder then that they are so highly sought by skin collectors, and hyped by CS2 YouTubers. When Blue Gem Case Hardened variants are used by professional players in their matches, the prices of all other finishes for that particular knife increase in price, even though there is no connection. For the Flip Knife, we believe that more often than not there have been either Tier 1 or Tier 2 pattern listings on third-party marketplaces, and if you keep a regular eye out, you may soon be able to get your hands on one.
