Why The Hydra Gloves Have No Blue Gem Patterns
The Case Hardened pattern for Hydra Gloves was released in early 2018 as a rare drop from the Clutch Case. It is a fingerless design similar to the Bloodhound Gloves introduced earlier, made out of leather with studs and the Operation Hydra logo in bronze on the top part. The leather is dyed in various shades from the Case Hardened color palette, such as blue, gray, and dull gold.
Contrary to how the float value of Case Hardened finishes affects knives and guns, where only a darkening effect on the surface is visible on higher floats, there are marked abrasions at various places on these gloves even in Factory New condition, which get visibly worse at higher floats.
The gloves can be found as a rare drop in the following cases:
Are There Any Blue Gem Patterns For The Hydra Gloves Case Hardened?
No, there are no Blue Gem patterns for the Case Hardened Hydra Gloves. Although the gloves technically have different pattern seeds, they have absolutely no effect on their appearance. Each glove has exactly the same pattern applied, having the same amount of blue, gold, and gray, at the same positions. This was a decision made by Valve, for reasons that we do not know. Itโs not a limitation of how gloves work though, as we know that the pattern position of other gloves, such as the Specialist Fade Gloves, does change with each pattern seed.
The Case Hardened Hydra Gloves are pretty affordable at the moment, and you can pair them nicely with some knife finishes such as the Vanilla Stiletto, Talon Night, or any of the Case Hardened knives.
The Case Hardened Finish
The Case Hardened finish has become one of the most popular skins in CS2 over the years, and is among the earliest finishes released in the game, way back in the Arms Deal update in 2013. The Case Hardened finish comes from a pre-designed sheet of various mottled colors such as a brilliant blue, a darker shade of blue, specks of purple, and dull gold over a gray base. A pattern from this sheet is transferred onto the weapon in a cookie-cutter style, giving it a distinct look.
There are 1000 different variations of the pattern, referred to as seed patterns, each transferring a different variation in weightage and position of colors from the sheet onto the weapon. The seed patterns are given a rating divided into 4 tiers, with Tier 1 patterns being the most expensive and having the highest amount of blue on the weapon, which is the most preferred color among the community. Tier 2 patterns have the next highest amount of blue in comparison to Tier 1 patterns, and their prices are as a result lesser as well, but still higher than the market average. At Tier 4, the Case Hardened skins have little amount of blue, and greater amounts of the lesser preferred gray and gold, with prices closer to the market average.
Case Hardened Blue Gem Patterns
A Blue Gem is a specific pattern from the Case Hardened finish that refers to a weapon having the majority of its playside covered in blue. There are some exceptions to this, such as knives with large blades like the Bowie that make it impossible to cover the majority in blue, as well as guns such as the AK-47, but the rules are relaxed in such cases considering this limitation.
Blue Gem patterned skins look amazing in-game and are highly sought after by members of the CS2 community, including YouTube influencers, skin collectors, investors, and even professional players. These patterns are very rare, often taking millions of case openings to drop, have a huge demand, and generate a high premium. The price of a Blue Gem tends to vary with the weapon itโs on, with Blue Gem patterns on low-tier weapons being a few thousand dollars, to Glue Gems for higher tier weapons like the Karambit having their asking price well over a million dollars. In the majority of cases, the #1 Blue Gem Case Hardened pattern seed is the most expensive skin finish for the weapon itโs on.
Conclusion
Blue Gem seed patterns for the Case Hardened finish are extremely rare, and this is reflected in their price. Considering how valuable they can get, we believe it is a missed opportunity on the part of the developers to not include Blue Gem versions of the Hydra Gloves. They could have had these gloves designed similarly to the Fade or Marble Fade Specialist Gloves, where each pattern seed changes the position of the pattern.
