M4A1-S | Guardian (Battle-Scarred)

The M4A1-S | Guardian (Battle-Scarred) is a Classified rifle skin with a cobalt-blue body and the CT logo stenciled on the magazine, in its most heavily worn condition. It's the cheapest way into the finish, trading surface condition for the lowest entry price.

Design

The design stays simple and defensive: the Counter-Terrorist logo stenciled onto a cobalt-blue base, leaning on a single bold color rather than busy graphics. It's a community creation by the artist J4CK, and it comes with a fitting in-game line: "I don't have to like you, I have to keep you safe - Carmen Cocinero, Extraction Expert."

M4A1-S | Guardian (Battle-Scarred) Float and Wear

The finish is float-capped at 0.50, so its Battle-Scarred band runs a narrow 0.45–0.50 rather than up to a full 1.0. The result is that this grade never reaches the extreme end of the wear scale — the worst copies stay milder than those of an uncapped skin. Expect scuffing and paint loss across the body, with the blue thinned in places, while the stenciled CT emblem survives to keep the skin readable.

M4A1-S | Guardian Rarity

Rarity: Classified, the pink tier. It ranks just below Covert as the second-highest of the standard weapon grades, and it's a genuinely uncommon grade to pull from a case.

M4A1-S | Guardian Case and Collection

Guardian is part of The Winter Offensive Collection and is unboxed from the Winter Offensive Weapon Case, released with the Winter Offensive update in December 2013. Across that case the Classified tier drops around 3.2% of the time (the rate is shared across the tier's skins), and because the case has left the active drop pool, supply is fixed — most copies change hands on the market instead of coming from unboxing.

M4A1-S | Guardian Patterns

There's no random pattern variation to speak of — the blue base and the stenciled CT logo sit the same way on every copy, so no paint seed or "blue gem" is worth hunting. Only wear and float set one copy apart from another.

StatTrak & Souvenir

A StatTrak™ Guardian is available too, adding a confirmed-kill counter; it's a scarcer, pricier drop from the Winter Offensive Weapon Case, and its counter is permanent, following the item through every trade or sale. There's no Souvenir edition — Souvenir weapons are produced only from Major-tournament packages, and this finish has never featured in a Major drop.

M4A1-S | Guardian Price

Battle-Scarred is the cheapest grade of the finish — the entry-level way to run the design for players who care more about the look than the condition. It keeps Guardian firmly in affordable mid-tier territory, well shy of grail pricing. It's available to buy on Skin.Land with instant delivery and no hidden fees.

FAQ

Is the Battle-Scarred Guardian still recognizable?

Yes. Despite the heavier scuffing, the cobalt base and stenciled CT logo keep the design clearly readable at a glance in-game. Battle-Scarred here is about accepting visible wear in exchange for the lowest price, not losing the look — and the capped float keeps things from getting truly ragged.

Why doesn't the Battle-Scarred Guardian look completely trashed?

Because the finish is float-capped at 0.50 rather than the full 1.0, its Battle-Scarred copies fall in a tight 0.45–0.50 band and never reach the most extreme wear. That, plus a solid blue base, keeps the skin more legible here than many lighter-colored finishes at the same grade.

Which gloves go with the Guardian?

Its cobalt palette suits a cool, blue-toned CT loadout, so blue or blue-gray gloves work best — a blue pair picks up the base finish, while gray or black wraps keep it low-key. It slots naturally into a defender-themed setup alongside other blue CT skins.