Nova | Antique (Field-Tested)

The Nova | Antique (Field-Tested, FT) is a Classified shotgun skin styled after an aged, lacquered firearm, pairing a wood-stock body with gold inlay across the receiver. Field-Tested is the most affordable way into the finish, adding honest wear to that antique character.

Design

At heart this is a collector's-relic look: a hydrographic wood stock trimmed with dry-transfer gold inlay, giving a brown-and-brass palette that feels closer to a mantelpiece antique than a range gun. The finish is a community creation by Ancient and comes with the in-game line "With age comes wisdom and stopping power."

Nova | Antique (Field-Tested) Float and Wear

The finish is float-capped at 0.30, and Field-Tested sits at the top of that span as the most worn grade available — so even here the damage stays modest, never reaching the battered look of a full-scale skin. Expect visible scuffing on the edges and some dulling of the gold, but the wood-and-brass theme still reads clearly. It's the budget entry to the design.

Nova | Antique Rarity

Rarity: Classified — the pink tier, ranked directly below Covert and second from the top of the standard weapon grades. Unboxing one is an uncommon result from any case.

Nova | Antique Case and Collection

The Antique sits in The Phoenix Collection and drops from the Operation Phoenix Weapon Case, released together with Operation Phoenix back in February 2014. As a group the Classified tier pulls around 3.2% of the time (the odds are shared across the tier's skins), and because the case is out of the active drop pool, its supply is fixed — buyers get most copies second-hand rather than by unboxing.

Nova | Antique Patterns

Because the wood grain and gold inlay are placed the same on every copy, this Nova has no random pattern lottery — no paint seed or "blue gem" to track down. The only things separating one copy from the next are wear and float.

StatTrak & Souvenir

A StatTrak edition of this shotgun does exist, bringing a confirmed-kill counter along; it's rarer and more expensive than the standard drop, and the counter is permanent — it never gets wiped when the item is traded or sold. There's no Souvenir variant, as Souvenir weapons only come from Major-tournament packages and the Phoenix Collection has never appeared as a Major drop.

Nova | Antique Price

Field-Tested is the cheapest grade of the Antique, the entry-level way to run the heirloom look for players who value the design over spotless condition. It keeps the finish a premium Nova pick while landing at the low end of its own ladder. Available to buy on Skin.Land with instant delivery and no hidden fees.

FAQ

Does the Field-Tested Antique still look like an antique?

Yes. There's clear edge scuffing and the gold loses a little brightness, but the wood-stock body and brass inlay keep the heirloom theme readable at a glance. Field-Tested trades some surface polish for the lowest price on the finish, without losing the look that makes it distinctive.

Why doesn't the Field-Tested copy look heavily battered?

Because the finish is float-capped at 0.30 rather than the usual higher ceilings, Field-Tested is the most worn grade it reaches. That keeps even the roughest copies looking moderately used rather than trashed, so the wood-and-gold design stays legible across the whole range.

Is Field-Tested the best value on the Antique?

If price is your priority, yes. It's the lowest-cost grade and still shows the signature wood-and-brass design clearly. Step up to Minimal Wear (MW) or Factory New (FN) only if you want brighter gold and cleaner edges; otherwise Field-Tested delivers the heirloom look for the least outlay.