AK-47 | Cartel (Battle-Scarred)

The AK-47 | Cartel (Battle-Scarred) is a Classified rifle skin finished in dark, polished metal engraved with skulls, roses, and serpents in a gothic Day-of-the-Dead cartel style, in its most heavily worn condition. It's the cheapest way into the design, trading surface condition for the lowest entry price.

Design

Cartel's receiver and body are finished in dark, polished metal etched with skulls, roses, and serpents, a gothic Day-of-the-Dead cartel motif in dark tones with red accents; the natural wood stock and handguard stay in place. It began as a community design by Anders and comes with a fitting in-game line: "One little squeeze turns every morning into the Day of the Dead."

AK-47 | Cartel (Battle-Scarred) Float and Wear

At Battle-Scarred the finish wears its damage openly — heavy scratching and paint loss spread across the body, the metal worn thin in places, and the wood furniture looking weathered. The engraved skulls, roses, and serpents survive as the anchor that keeps the skin recognizable. This finish tops out at 0.75, so it never reaches the extreme end of the float scale, and the design stays legible even at its roughest.

AK-47 | Cartel Rarity

Rarity lands at Classified — the pink tier, second from the top of the standard grades and only a rung under Covert. As case pulls go, it's a genuinely uncommon one.

AK-47 | Cartel Case and Collection

The finish sits in The Chroma Collection and drops from the January 2015 Chroma Case. The Classified tier as a whole appears roughly 3.2% of the time per case, and because that case is the only source, most copies are acquired on the market rather than unboxed.

AK-47 | Cartel Patterns

Because the engraving is fixed, Cartel shows no random pattern variation at all — the skulls, roses, and serpents sit the same on each copy, with no paint seed or "blue gem" to seek. Wear and float are the only differences between copies.

StatTrak & Souvenir

Yes, a StatTrak™ Cartel exists, fitted with a confirmed-kill counter; it's a rarer and more expensive drop than the regular skin, and the counter is permanent, kept intact through trading or selling. What doesn't exist is a Souvenir version — Souvenirs are handed out only via Major-tournament souvenir packages, and the Cartel was never part of a Major drop.

AK-47 | Cartel Price

Battle-Scarred is the cheapest grade of the skin — the entry-level way to run the Cartel design for players who care more about the look than the condition. On an already affordable mid-tier AK, this is the lowest-cost way in. It's available to buy on Skin.Land with instant delivery and no hidden fees.

FAQ

Is the Battle-Scarred Cartel still recognizable?

Yes. Despite the heavy scuffing, the dark metal base and the engraved skulls, roses, and serpents keep the design clearly readable at a glance in-game. Battle-Scarred is about accepting visible wear in exchange for the lowest price, not losing the gothic cartel look entirely.

Why doesn't the Battle-Scarred Cartel look as trashed as some other skins?

Because the finish tops out at a 0.75 float rather than the full 1.0, its Battle-Scarred copies never reach the most extreme wear. Combined with a dark base that hides damage, the Cartel stays more legible at this grade than many lighter-colored skins do.

Which gloves go with the AK-47 | Cartel?

Its dark metal with red accents and natural wood suits a moody, high-contrast loadout, so black or red gloves work best — a red pair picks up the accent tones, while dark brown or black wraps echo the wood and the gothic feel. Warm-toned knife finishes round the set out nicely.