How knife finishes are priced
Before the individual finishes, it helps to know the two pricing models. A uniform finish looks the same on every copy, so its price moves only with the knife model, the wear tier, and the exact float value. A pattern- or phase-graded finish changes appearance from copy to copy — a swirl phase, a gradient percentage, or a blade pattern — so two listings at the same wear can be worlds apart in value.
Our valuations come from our own in-house algorithm fed by a live multi-market price grid across 41 marketplaces, which is what lets us put sensible bands on finishes whose value depends on something as subtle as a paint seed. Throughout this guide we describe prices as qualitative bands — cheap, mid, high — because exact numbers shift weekly.
Doppler & Gamma Doppler — the phase kings
Doppler is a glossy swirl of deep blues, blacks and pinks, and it is phase-graded: each copy rolls a Phase 1–4 layout, plus three rare specials — Ruby (red), Sapphire (blue) and Black Pearl. Gamma Doppler swaps the palette for greens and teals, topped by the rare Emerald. Standard phases sit in the mid-to-high band; the rare phases are among the most expensive items in the game. Because the phase drives the price, always confirm exactly which one a listing is.
For the full breakdown of each layout, see our Doppler phases guide, the Gamma Doppler Emerald guide, and the dedicated blue-gem pattern guide for Sapphire-style copies.
Marble Fade — Fire & Ice and friends
Marble Fade splashes vivid red, blue and gold across the blade in a marbled pattern. It is pattern-graded: the standout is Fire & Ice, a copy where the red and blue tips sit opposite each other, which commands a large premium over ordinary layouts. Most copies land in the mid-to-high band; a tight Fire & Ice pushes into top-tier territory. See our Marble Fade patterns guide for how the tier system works.
Fade — graded by gradient percentage
Fade runs a smooth purple-to-yellow (or pink-to-gold) gradient across the blade, and it is graded by fade percentage — how far the full-spectrum gradient reaches. A 100% Fade with a "full" rainbow sits well above an 80% copy of the same knife. It's a clean, uniform-looking finish whose only variable is that percentage, so it lands in the mid band with high-percentage copies pushing higher.
Tiger Tooth, Damascus Steel & Ultraviolet — clean uniforms
These three are uniform finishes, priced by float rather than pattern. Tiger Tooth is a solid gold tiger-stripe blade with no visible wear scatter, so a low float reads as a flawless mirror finish — clean, popular, and firmly mid-band. Damascus Steel is an etched grey blade with a folded-steel texture, sitting in the lower-mid band. Ultraviolet is a matte purple-black coating, understated and usually the cheapest of the three. On all of them, a low float is what you pay up for.
Rust Coat & the basic camo finishes — the cheap tier
Rust Coat is deliberately rusted and corroded, and it is almost always the cheapest finish on any knife. Just above it sit the plain camo and basic finishes: Boreal Forest, Safari Mesh, Scorched, Forest DDPAT, Urban Masked, Night, Stained and Blue Steel. All are uniform, priced mostly by float and model, and they're the natural entry point if you want a genuine knife without the Doppler or Fade premium. Browse the cheapest knives list to see which models carry these finishes for the least.
Case Hardened — the blue-gem hunt
Case Hardened is a mottled blue, gold and grey blade, and it is the classic pattern-graded finish: each paint seed produces a different mix of blue and gold. Copies with a large, concentrated blue face — "blue gems" — are chased hard and reach the top band, while a mostly-gold or scattered seed sits much lower. Two identical-wear copies can differ enormously, so the pattern index is everything. Our blue-gem pattern guide and the broader paint seed and pattern index guide explain how to read a seed.
Crimson Web & Slaughter — web and blot patterns
These two are also pattern-graded, by where the artwork lands on the blade. Crimson Web scatters dark red spider webs over a blade; copies with multiple tight webs centred on the flat face — "max webs" — sit far above a sparse copy. Slaughter is a marbled red blot finish prized for tidy, face-filling patterns. Both land mid-to-high depending on the layout. See the Crimson Web patterns guide and the Slaughter patterns guide for grading.
Chroma & Gamma series finishes
Beyond the headline finishes, the Chroma and Gamma case eras added a set of distinctive uniform coatings. Autotronic is a sleek black-and-blue circuit look; Bright Water is a pale blue-grey wash; Freehand mimics hand-painted blue brushwork; Lore is a green-and-gold antiqued pattern; and Black Laminate is a dark layered finish. Most of these are priced like uniforms — by float and model — and span the mid band, sitting below the rare Doppler phases but above the camo basics.
Cheap vs mid vs high — putting it together
Group the finishes by band and the buying decision gets simple. Cheap: Rust Coat and the camo basics (Boreal Forest, Safari Mesh, Scorched, Forest DDPAT, Urban Masked, Night, Stained, Blue Steel) — uniform, float-priced, the easiest way in. Mid: Tiger Tooth, Damascus Steel, Ultraviolet, Fade, and the Chroma/Gamma finishes — clean and flashy without phase-hunting. High: Doppler and Gamma Doppler phases, Marble Fade Fire & Ice, and gem-pattern Case Hardened — where the right roll turns a knife into a collector piece.
The single most useful habit: know whether the finish you want is uniform (buy the lowest float you can afford) or pattern/phase-graded (the phase, percentage or seed matters more than the wear label). For deeper dives on individual knives, see the Karambit buying guide, and when you're ready to shop, head to the knives category or the cheapest knives list. For any term you don't recognise, check the CS2 skins glossary.