Ursus Knife Case Hardened: Blue Gem Seed Patterns
The Ursus Knife was first released in CS2 in 2018 as part of the ‘A New Horizon’ update in the Horizon Case, one of four new knives introduced in the game. It came with a total of 13 different finishes, including the Case Hardened finish. Over the years, it has become a solid mid-tier option that has been well-received by the overall community and is often seen in player loadouts.
The design gives off a modernistic look, with a faceted blade which is probably the best part of the knife. Although the handle is a little plump in comparison to the blade, it doesn’t take away much from the overall look. The inspect and pull-out animations are also good, which results in the higher tier finishes like Fade, Crimson Web, and Slaughter commanding high prices. However, the highest price demanded for an Ursus Knife has been from the #1 seed pattern of a Case Hardened finish, which is a Blue Gem pattern.
So why is it that this particular pattern is so expensive, you might be wondering, and what is so special about it? To help you understand what makes it so unique and expensive, we will comprehensively cover the various aspects of the Case Hardened finishes, and why some of them are so talked about and revered by members of the CS2 Community. Some important information related to these skins, including factual and historical accounts, will be covered in this article as well. Let’s jump right into it!
List Of Ursus Knife Case Hardened Patterns By Tier
If you are searching the online marketplaces to look for a nice Case Hardened skin for the Ursus, or have unboxed one and want to know how much it might be worth, you’ve come to the right place. We have listed all the various patterns available for the Ursus Knife Case Hardened and divided them up tier-wise. Some of these patterns hold more value and demand higher prices than others. Before we explain the reasons for this, check out the table below:
| Group | Pattern Seeds |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 494, 770, 618, 575, 652, 112 |
| Tier 2 | 891, 838, 283, 917, 130, 844, 702, 721, 868, 881, 468, 510, 798, 371, 330, 629 |
| Tier 3 | 638, 664, 488, 858, 576, 61, 841, 248, 38, 631, 182, 749, 643, 808, 811, 528, 854, 961, 73, 505, 334, 306, 989, 823, 630, 116, 56, 426, 916, 612, 985, 411, 547, 375, 883, 657, 282, 14, 694, 188, 442, 919, 658, 902, 776, 522, 108, 853, 347, 414, 497, 256 |
| Tier 4 | 176, 29, 398, 458, 788, 499, 768, 976, 262, 311, 92, 72, 445, 711, 633, 698, 899, 34, 964, 335, 809, 453, 708, 194, 609, 803, 273, 27, 927, 713, 74, 885, 236, 10, 866, 321, 269, 89, 780, 322, 175, 965, 905, 55, 707, 98, 191, 782, 457, 801, 429, 907, 556, 387, 147, 4, 255, 741, 80, 622, 470, 310, 849, 955, 358, 753, 828, 507, 365, 958, 381, 214, 341, 830, 515, 846, 357, 20, 222, 860, 541, 513, 318, 299, 245, 933, 428 |
As you can see above, there are 4 tiers, each having various pattern seeds. Each seed pattern determines the manner in which a pattern will be taken from the Case Hardened color sheet and transferred onto the weapon. On higher tiers such as tier 1 & 2, the color blue has the highest quantities on the playside, while in lower tiers, the amount of blue is lessened and the gray and dull gold take up the majority of the surface. This means that the knife, or any weapon with the Case Hardened finish for that matter, will have its price closer to the market average if the seed pattern is in tier 3 or 4, but can fetch substantial overpay if they are in tiers 1 or 2.
What Is The Case Hardened Finish?
The Case Hardened is one of the earliest finishes introduced as weapon ‘skins’ in CS2 by Valve in 2013. In its first iteration, it was only available for the AK-47, but due to its huge popularity, was later adopted for the Mac-10, the Five-Seven, and all the rare knife drops.
The Case Hardened skin is pattern-based, meaning that a pattern is cut out and transferred to the particular weapon from a pre-designed sheet. In this case, the sheet where patterns are cut from has a grayish base, on which various patterns of mottled colors are superimposed, such as the most popular and highly sought blue, which turns a darker shade at its edges, and then turns purple. The thin lines of purple shades which cover the perimeter of the blue blotches are then joined by a dull gold color. This cookie-cutter style transfer on the weapon skin ensures that all 1000 seed variations of this skin have a unique pattern on them.
In the Case Hardened finish, blue is the color most highly sought by collectors and is regarded to be the most valuable, raising the price of the particular weapon on its own. As the level of blue diminishes on the skin and the dull gold or grays are in the majority, the overpay for the weapon diminishes proportionally and comes closer to its average market value. The colors mentioned come from the seed value of the Case Hardened finish, while the wear condition is another factor that has an influence on the look, but this is minimal in comparison to other skins. For instance, on other skin finishes, the wear condition influences the wear and tear on the surface, with noticeable scratches or abrasions on the colors or images present on the skin. With Case Hardened skins, however, there is no such influence on the original pattern, except that on higher wears, the brightness of the colors diminishes.
What Is a Blue Gem Case Hardened Skin?
A Blue Gem is one of the few tier 1 patterns from the Case Hardened skins with the majority of its surface on the playside covered in the blue shade from the Case Hardened color sheet. Such weapons are revered throughout the fan base of CS2, from YouTube influencers, professional players, and skin collectors all looking to get their hands on one, and willing to pay substantial price premiums over and above the market price, sometimes running in the tens of thousands of dollars.
How Valuable Are These Blue Gem Skins?
By some estimates, it takes around 3.7 million case unboxings to acquire the #1 Blue Gem, which makes them even rarer than Doppler finishes such as Emeralds, Rubies, and Sapphires. Due to this rarity factor alone, not only are Blue Gem finishes of Case Hardened skins hard to get, they can be very expensive as well. However, as you may well know, not every knife is worth the same price. Some are valued more than others. The same applies to Blue Gem skins as well, meaning that the weapon they are on has an influence on their price too. For instance, a Blue Gem Skeleton Knife will be worth exponentially more than a Nomad Blue Gem. But having said this, whether it’s a Navaja Blue Gem or an Ursus, its price may well be in the tens of thousands of dollars, more expensive than that of any other knife finish.
So far, the most expensive Blue Gem has been valued at around USD 2 million by its owner, a Chinese collector who initially acquired it for USD 100k. The weapon in question is a Factory New Karambit Blue Gem Case Hardened with the #1 seed pattern, which is 387.
How Much Is a Blue Gem Ursus Knife Worth?
An Ursus Blue Gem with the best Tier 1 pattern of 494 in Well-Worn condition is valued at around USD 4k, which is one of the cheapest at the moment, but may see a substantial price increase in the near future.
How Can I Get a Blue Gem Ursus Knife?
There are various methods you can adopt if you want to get your hands on a Blue Gem Case Hardened skin for the Ursus Knife. Currently, there are two cases that have a chance of dropping the Ursus Knife in the Case Hardened finish as a rare drop. These are:
Though it must be said that this might end up being the costliest exercise out of all the other options which will be listed since there is a very remote chance that out of 4 different knives that have a 0.26% chance of dropping, you have to contend with the fact that there are a further 11 different finishes for each knife, and then finally the fact that if a Case Hardened drops, it ends up being a Blue Gem. As we have rightly pointed out in previous articles, unboxing a Blue Gem Case Hardened skin is rarer than unboxing, say, a Doppler Ruby or Emerald.
So if you leave out the unboxing option, you can choose to scour the online marketplaces to see if any Tier 1 patterns are listed. Although we would have recommended the Steam Community Marketplace for finding skins as an option, for Tier 1 Blue Gems this might be the last place you should be looking for since their prices are higher than what Steam allows listings for, which is a USD 2k cap. Even the cheapest Blue Gems are worth more than this.
The last option for you then is to reach out to community members on Steam or through influencers to see if anyone knows who to reach out to, and then deal with them for a one-on-one trade.
Ursus Knife: Case Hardened
The Ursus Knife Case Hardened finish comes in all wears, from Factory New (0.00) to Battle-Scarred (1.00). As the wear level rises, the Case Hardened finish on the knife takes on a darker hue but has no other effect on the knife. The Case Hardened pattern covers the entire blade, but the black hand guard and the brown plastic handle remain in their default state. Current market prices for the Ursus Knife in the Case Hardened finish remain affordable compared to other mid-tier knives and have a high chance of appreciating in the coming years. So if you want to get your hands on one as an investment right now, and use it as a great play skin, check out the market listings below. With some luck, you might even find a good pattern!
Concluding Remarks
Blue Gem patterns from the Case Hardened finishes are very valuable whichever weapon they are on, and generate considerable overpay above the market price. They are very rare to unbox and can be even more expensive to acquire. It’s no wonder then that they are so highly coveted by the various members of the Counter-Strike community. They are shown off in Major event matches by professional athletes, bragged about by skin collectors, and shown off by YouTubers. For the Ursus Knife, it is our belief that there is a high chance that the value of this knife will increase in the coming years, and with more finishes released, the overall prices for all previous finishes will increase as well. As such, if you can get your hands on a decent Case Hardened pattern, rest assured that you stand to gain from the investment.
