Back in the day, Counter Strike was all about your skill as a player. It still is, but now you also have the ability to show off your style on the battlefield. Since 2013, skins have constituted a major element of the CS:GO community. If you ever wondered about how to get a good CS:GO skin, look no further.
CS:GO skins and how to get them
If you’re new to Counter Strike: Global Offensive, or gaming in general, here’s a quick recap: skins are technically textures – the graphic covers on a 3D in-game model. Every weapon, piece of apparel, and the map itself is covered in textures. In CS:GO, besides the basic skins that exist at the beginning of the game, there are those that can be obtained through different ways and applied to your favorite guns and clothes. They are cosmetic in nature – they do not provide any advantage besides their aesthetic appeal.
Skins are divided into several categories according to their quality, rarity and external appearance. The first categorization represents the grades from the most common to the rarest, in different colors:
- White – Most common,
- Light blue – Uncommon,
- Dark blue – Rare,
- Purple – Mythical,
- Pink – Legendary,
- Red – Ancient,
- Gold – Exceedingly Rare,
- Yellow Orange – Immortal.
All of the above are further expanded by the exterior quality grades, from worst to best, as follows:
- Factory New (FN),
- Minimal Wear (MW),
- Field-Tested (FT),
- Well-Worn (WW),
- Battle-Scarred (BS).
Getting skins while playing
The most straightforward way of acquiring skins is simply playing the game. By completing matches on VAC protected servers, you will be able to get around four drops every week. One is reserved for when you level up, while the others are random.
There are, however, some cons to this method. It’s true – you get drops just for playing, but most of the time, you will not receive anything noteworthy. Additionally, drops usually come in cases. To open them, you will need a key – these are sadly not free. Thankfully, they are not that expensive either.
Buying skins online
You don’t have to spend months on playing just to finally get your hands on the skin you craved. You can check the offers of other players listed on online markets immediately. You will find a vast selection of options at often affordable prices. One such site is Skinwallet, where you will find amazing skins like the popular AWP atheris. Believe me; you want to get your hands on one of those good-looking skins for a cult classic weapon to frag people with.
Online Tournaments
If you want to test yourself and try winning some valuable new skins for your game, you should check out online CS:GO tournaments. Just keep in mind that you should look for those that actually give out prizes – those are called Prized Tournaments. The only thing you need is to find an online tournament you would like to participate in and connect your steam account to it, according to the instructions which are usually prepared by the organizers. Just be wary of the entrance fees. Some tournaments might require you to pay a small fee to participate.
Skin Giveaways
You don’t always need to pay for a skin with money. There are sites or social media accounts which sometimes organize CS:GO skin giveaways, but they might require you to complete specific tasks first. Usually, they might ask you to like a post, write a comment or sign up somewhere. After doing those tasks, you might get something nice in return.
There are also some online communities, like those surrounding popular CS:GO Twitch streamers, that offer free skins as an incentive for new potential viewers. It’s a good idea to be on the lookout for those, especially if you already have some favorite players you like to watch.
Conclusion
There are numerous ways of obtaining valuable CS:GO skins. You can slowly grind matches and hope that eventually, something good will drop, or you can simply browse through hundreds of offers on skin marketplaces. Be sure to choose an option you’re the most comfortable with and don’t let anything spoil your fun!
