Best CS:GO skins

There are more than a dozen hundred skins in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, so it's hard to name on best CS:GO skin out of them. The opinions may vary, and the trends are constantly changing, influenced by new Operations, pro-players' choices, changes in competitive map-pool, and other factors. Below you will find detailed information on what weapon finishes are good. If you are new to buying these in-game items, look at these lists – you will get some useful ideas on which skins to buy first. If you already have a decent collection, here you will find more about ways to enhance it or to obtain skins as an investment. 

The most popular guns in CS:GO

To find out, what are the most popular CS:GO skins you first need to consider, which firearms are used most often. There are 34 different firearms in Counter-Strike, but not all of them deserve equal love of the gamers. What’s the point in owning an item, that looks nice, if the weapon is weaker than other similar firearms? Sometimes the popularity of the gun shifts, such as, for example, in the recent case of M4A1-S nerf. Some guns are preferably used by the attacking side, and others – by the defending one, but as in each match teams play in both roles, this influence evens out. 

Here is the strongest weapon for CS:GO in each category. If you are a new player, you should master these first, and if you want to buy nice CS:GO skins, start with finishes for these weapons, as you will have plenty of opportunities to show off them, no matter your playstyle.

• Desert Eagle – a powerful pistole, that can do a lot of damage and even allows you to perform a one-shot kill if your aim is good. You are able to buy it in the early stages of the match, gaining an advantage over your opponent. Due to this fact, the articles about the best CS:GO skins often mention some instances of this gun. 
• The Mac-10 is a notorious sub-machine gun, which is efficient and fast. Although you can name some guns which provide more firepower, the combination of its stats is unique and makes it a good choice for beginner players. 
• The Nova is a typical shotgun, with a slow fire rate and small magazine capacity. It compensates for it with huge damage. It can be a risky weapon for a new player, as it does not forgive mistakes, but if you know, what you are doing, the Nova can become a deciding factor in your win. 
• AK-47 is one of the most iconic weapons in CS:GO, which is recognized even by those people who won’t recognize Desert Eagle from Glock. Almost every list of good CS:GO skins include a couple of finishes for your Kalashnikov. Beginners sometimes prefer AUG, as it is thought to be a bit easier to master, but with no doubt, AK-47 remains one of the most effective guns. 
• The AWP is another example of the gun, which became one of the symbols of the game. There are cheaper sniper rifles in CS:GO, but this one will almost guarantee you a kill if you are using it properly. It allows you to get your enemy from the distance, remaining unseen, and it is no wonder, that weapon finishes for it is always in demand. 
• There are two machine guns as well, but they are not very popular, because they do not combine well with the game objectives. In Counter-Strike, you need mobility and accuracy, and machine guns are created for a different type of combat. In most situations, you won’t need Negev or M249, although there are some interesting skins for them. 

Preferences may vary from player to player, as well as depend on their role within a team, But it is a good idea to start your collection with the popular CS:GO skins for these guns. Now, let's give several examples for each category, so you will see, how impressive can you weapon look, if you know, where to get cheap skins. 

The Best Skins for Desert Eagle

Initially CS:GO developers did not expect, that players will buy bright and colorful skins and planned to concentrate on realistic-looking ones. Eventually, it turned out to be the opposite, and Desert Eagle Ocean Drive is a vivid illustration to that. The whole body of the gun is painted bright orange, purple, blue, and pink, reminding of the Miami Ocean Drive. 

Skins decorated with animalistic designs are popular too, but usually, they involve pictures of more aggressive animals or monsters. Desert Eagle Fennec Fox is different, as it is decorated with a cute and cunning desert fox, the fennec. Maybe the contrast between the cuteness of the fennec and the deadly power of the pistol is that this skin its popularity. 

Another good example of what is characteristic of best looking CS:GO skins is Desert Eagle Kumicho Dragon. The purple and gray body is covered with a very detailed drawing of a Chinese dragon, and the silver lines give the weapon its unique style. 

The best skins for Mac-10

Now, let’s look at some good CS:GO skins for Mac-10. The first one you cannot avoid mentioning is MAC-10 Stalker. It is designed with contrasting colors: blue, red, and yellow, with some black stripes. The skin is instantly recognizable due to the images of the aggressive beast, which looks like it is screaming at the opponent ready to bite them. 

Some of the best CS skins for MAC-10 take the following approach and offer minimalistic design, which highlights the shape of the gun. A couple of good examples are MAC-10 Candy Apple and MAC-10 Silver, the former with the red body of the weapon and the latter with silver. 

A bit more sophisticated design you will find in MAC-10 Graven – a brass weapon finish with floral ornament in oriental style. The combination of the thin lines of the engraving and the clean and shiny upper part gives the gun its unique look. 

The best skins for Nova

If you decide to take some risks and try out Nova, here are some of the coolest CS:GO skins for this gun. Let’s begin with Nova Antique – a skin with an old-fashioned look, using the textures of natural wood and darkened metal. Even in Factory New condition this skin isn’t very expensive, and costs less than one can expect judging by its looks. 

And if you want the opposite option, the weapon finishes made with bright neon colors, buy Nova Hyper Beast. The face of some mystical monster with a maw full of teeth fills the shape of the weapon in an interesting way and looks very distinctive, although the area of the surface is not very big. 

If you are ready to invest a bit more in obtaining the best CS:GO skins, we can advise Nova Baroque Orange. It combines silver, black, and golden orange in a pattern, which would look good in an art exposition, but looks equally impressive as a gun finish. 

The best skins for AK-47

Whether you reading some basic reviews of the CS:GO skins market, a list of popular CS:GO skins, or an in-depth trends analysis, you will likely see a couple of skins for AK-47 mentioned there. And you will find a great variety of styles among them. One of the most futuristic designs for the gun is AK-47 Asiimov. Named buy the creator after a famous sci-fi writer, it draws inspiration from classic books and movies describing our future. Black and orange elements look very distinctive on the white background, making this version of AK-47 instantly recognizable even from the distance. 

Another famous skin for the assault rifle, regularly making the list of best skins in CS:GO, is the AK-47 Empress. It also belongs to the small number of skins with the most detailed design. Added in 2017, it was inspired by the Tarot card of the same name and consists of images related to it. You can inspect this weapon finish for a long time, noticing more and more new and meaningful details. 

And here is one more skin, which has almost historical value: the AK-47 Vulcan exists since 2014, which makes it one of the oldest skins which remain popular to this day. The version without StatTrak will cost you about one hundred dollars minimum, even if you won’t try to find Factory New one, while the low-float StatTrak version will cost up to one thousand and more. 

The nest skins for AWP

Being an AWPer is one of the key roles in the CS:GO team, and consequently, AWP weapon finishes belong to the top skins in CS:GO. There are not many of them, but developers and skinmakers pay great attention to details, making many of them true masterworks. For example, look at AWP Atheris, with the picture of the emerald-green snake against the black background, with distinctive scales, eyes, and other details. Scales are also visible on certain weapon parts, giving the skin an even better look. 

If you perceive popular CS:GO skins as the best known and talked about, you cannot avoid adding AWP Dragon Lore to the list. The skin is of Covert quality, so even the non-Souvenir versions of it drop rarely. With the price of about 2 thousand dollars and more, not many players manage to lay their hands on it. The Souvenir version is even rarer, as it could be obtained only from the currently unavailable Cobblestone Collection.

Another example of Covert skins for this gun is AWP Wildfire, embellished with the image of a fiery Asian dragon on the dark background. Red accent marking the scope, the muzzle, and some other elements highlight the shape of the gun and make it look even more stylish. 

Now you have some information, that will help you to understand, which CS:GO skins are good and what you should buy in the first place. If you are trying to collect a thematic set, for example, inspired by some style of event, you often can get away with cheaper skins. If you view your skin purchases as an investment, do not restrict yourself to the popular weapon finishes mentioned above. In this case, you will have to follow the situation on the market and the prices dynamics, to try and guess, how it will change, and get items that will rise in price in the future. But in any case, the assortment of CS:GO skins allows one to find items for any taste.