Counter-Strike: Global Offensive cases
First of all, let us introduce you to the very basics of skins, case opening, and trading. As we have just mentioned, skins are the in-game cosmetic items used to decorate your weapons. The skins are stored in your Steam inventory, and you may exchange them with other players or sell them on the Steam marketplace. The price of skins depends mainly on their rarity, and some of them may be worth thousands of dollars!
There are three general ways to get skins: you can get them from opening cases, you can buy or trade them with other players, and they are rewarded for playing the game and. The latter is not a good option to enhance your collection as the drops are not that frequent, and the items dropped are usually very cheap. Trading and selling are also quite obvious if you are familiar with the basics of economics. As for the first option, it is a bit more complicated for new users.
The cases are also rewarded from playing CS:GO matches. They are the most common drop, and their price is usually very low. You can open the cases with keys that you can either buy from the in-game shop or from other players on the marketplace. Once you have a key, you can open the case to get one of the available items. The items are dropped randomly, and there are several rarity levels. Knives are considered the rarest drop, and they logically are one of the most expensive skins. However, you will most likely get a common drop that would be significantly cheaper than the key you have bought to open the case.
How to buy cases in CS:GO
Buying cases is easy as you simply have to visit the Steam marketplace. There are all the in-game cases available, so you will be able to choose the ones with the skins you like the most. To buy a case, you will need to have a Steam account and some money on its balance. Then, visit the marketplace, select CS:GO, and apply the filter for cases to browse through all of them.
Another option to purchase skins would be to visit third-party marketplaces. These are the sites where players can buy and sell CS:GO items for real money, and there are lots of players willing to sell their crates. It will be cheaper than buying them in Steam, but if you’re not planning to buy hundreds of cases, the difference will not be significant.
How to open CS:GO cases
Once you have a case in your inventory, you are almost ready to open it. You only need to get yourself a key. The easiest way to get one is to launch Counter-Strike and buy it from the in-game store. The keys are also available on the marketplace, but they are typically more expensive there. To easily find a key to your case, simply click on a case in your inventory, and the game will offer you to buy one. Once the key is in your inventory, you can crack the case open. You will see a roulette of items scrolling on your screen, and you will get the skin the roulette stops at.
CS:GO case price
If you have already tried searching for the cases on the Steam marketplace, you have probably noticed that the prices for cases vary a lot. This is easy to explain. The cases are dropped from playing matches, but the pool of droppable cases changes from time to time. This means you cannot get the cases that were released several years ago, and their number is limited. Logically, they will cost more than the ones that are dropping in thousands today. Another deviation of the average price happens with the freshly released cases. For the first several days, they cost a lot more than the previous ones, as the number of cases dropped is low.
Cheapest CS:GO keys
If you’re looking for cheap CS:GO cases, you should try searching the ones that are currently droppable. They should also have been released at least a few months ago so that the price would be stable by the moment you buy them. The cheapest crates would cost you only around five cents.
How to get free CS:GO cases
Getting free CS:GO cases is possible from playing the game. You have a chance to receive a random item at the end of every game, and cases are the most common drop you can receive. If you are casually playing for a week, you are almost guaranteed to get several cases in your inventory.
CS:GO case chances
As we have already stated, the drops from the cases have several rarity levels. They are blue, purple, pink, red and golden. The latter is related to knives and gloves, and the chance of getting them is only around 0.26%. Blue items have a chance of 79.92%, purple ones have 15.98%, pink skins drop at a rate of 3.2%, and red ones have only 0.64%.
CS:GO knife odds
Knives are probably the most desired drop in the game as they are the most expensive ones. However, CS:GO knife drop rate is only 0.26% for every case, meaning you will averagely have to open 385 cases to get one. Taking into account that the in-game price for keys is $2.50, you will averagely need a bit more than $950 to get a knife.
How to get drops in CS:GO fast
There is no way to speed up the drops given out in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. However, there is a small tip on how to receive more stuff while not playing actively. There are community servers that allow you to stand AFK and get drops. They typically have rounds of ten minutes, after which the map is reloaded to initiate a new portion of drops. You won’t get hundreds of skins this way, but it is at least something.
Most profitable CS:GO case
There are basically three factors affecting the profitability of a specific CS:GO case: the price of the case itself, the price of the items inside it, and the chances to get an item of a specific rarity. The latter is stable as these probabilities are the same across all cases, while the other parameters fluctuate a lot. The prices for the cases change gradually, and we have explained the main drivers before. At the same time, the prices of the items from the case fluctuate stronger as they depend on the trading activity of the players on the marketplace.
As you can see, this is a bunch of parameters to analyze, so it is rather hard to tell which case is the most profitable. And there is almost no reason to perform such research and publish the results in the article as they will get outdated very soon. We can recommend building on the case price as it is rather simple and will get you an acceptable result. Try finding a case that is already not available as a drop from matches but is not old enough to get extraordinarily expensive. Such cases should be in stock and be rather cheap, while the price for their loot may make the deal profitable as not so many players are opening such cases.
Newest CS:GO case
At the time of writing, the latest case released is the Snakebite Case. It appeared in stock on the third of May 2021, and it was the first case introduced this year. For the last four years, Valve has been introducing exactly three cases annually, so the new one shall arrive soon. To receive up-to-date information about the latest case released, you can check out this website.
Rare skins CS:GO
The list of rare skins in CS:GO is pretty long, as is the game’s life cycle. Most of such items were obtainable for a limited period of time and were removed from the drop tables at some point. The most popular of such items is the Dragon Lore AWP that may cost up to an insane amount of $26,000. It is dropped with an extremely low chance from the crates that are given out during major tournaments. Another interesting skin is M4A4 | Howl. This skin has an unprecedented story behind it. It was initially available as a part of Huntsman Weapon Case loot but was removed from the list pretty soon because of some copyright issues. Even if you have a spare fortune to buy the Howl skin, it won’t be easy to find one: there are only a few offers appearing per month.
There is another interesting pair of rare skins: Glock-18 | Fade, and Negev | Anodized Navy. The first skin is incredibly rare as years have passed since you could get it as a case drop. The situation with the latter is a bit funnier as only a small portion of its buyers are actually interested in getting their machine gun decorated. You might have heard about the exchange contracts in the game: they allow you to trade a pack of items for one item of the same collection but with a higher rarity. As you could have already guessed, people buy the Anodized Navy skin in the pursuit of the Fade skin. It is a paradox, which made the unwanted and, fairly speaking, not the most attractive skin a big rarity.
Pros and cons of CS:GO cases
Looting the in-game crates has both advantages and drawbacks, and we think it is crucial to understand them to make an informed choice on whether or not they are worth it for you. Here, we will briefly overview all the main points and do the same for case opening sites so that you can easily compare them after reading the article.
Pros of CS:GO cases
Security. You do not leave the ecosystem of Valve, so you are guaranteed to have your account, funds, and items protected by the company. There is no risk of fraud, and if there are any issues, you will be able to contact the support team and resolve them.
Fair random. With a company like Valve, you may be sure the drop chances are not tweaked or rigged, and you will be given a fair result. The best trust factor here is that Valve won’t benefit from you getting a cheaper skin: they earn money from keys and marketplace commissions. Therefore, they have no interest in providing you with bad loot.
The process is intuitive. Opening the crates in-game is pretty simple when you know the basics. Compared to the sites that are overloaded with additional features, the in-game option sticks to the point well enough.
Cons of CS:GO cases
Not that comfortable. To open a case, you will need to select and buy it first. Then, you will need to launch the game and buy a key to the exact case you bought. There are a bit too many steps in the procedure.
Rather expensive. The keys are pretty expensive, taking into account the value of the items you will most likely get. The prices are driven by the players, so you will most likely have a negative result of such an investment.
Limited choice. Unlike with case sites, CS:GO offers only a few crates to choose from. The worst point is that you will most likely enjoy only two or three skins from a specific collection, lowering your chances to get skin for the device you like.
Game of chance. This drawback is common between the two options we are reviewing today. Both of them are games of chance where your skill or knowledge does not affect the result. It is basically gambling in which you are testing your luck to get a skin that would be more expensive than the key to the crate.
Best CS:GO skins sites
Now that we have dealt with the core mechanics behind CS:GO skins, it is time for us to move on to a whole other sphere: case opening sites. They work in a similar manner as for regular Counter-Strike cases, but the service is provided online by third parties, and you won’t have to obtain the cases and keys or even launch the game itself. In this section, we will review the way such sites work, give you an insight on what loot you may find there, and analyze the most important aspects of the service, including banking, promotions, mobile optimization and many others.
How do they work?
As we have just said, the sites work almost the same way as the skin opening in the game. There are many cases available to choose from, each having different contents. You are able to pay a fixed sum to open a case and receive random loot. The loot is credited to your account on the website, and you are able to withdraw it to your Steam inventory by accepting a trade from the site’s bot.
As you can see, the main difference here is that you don’t have to obtain the crates and launch CS:GO to open them as everything is done on the website. Another difference relates to the contents of the cases: the sites do not necessarily provide copies of in-game crates for opening. They have a large stock of skins of all kinds, allowing them to design their own cases and group the existing loot the way they want to. There might be cases with AK-47 or AWP skins only, pistol-exclusive cases, or other unique combinations of loot stored in a virtual chest.
Last but not least, there are additional features. While with CS:GO case opening, it is simple: you open the crate and get the loot. The sites offer a much deeper experience. They have promotions, VIP or loyalty programs, referral bonuses, mobile case opening, and many other features. If you are not familiar with the mentioned stuff, don’t worry. We will elaborate on each important feature further.
What loot can you get?
The loot varies dramatically among different sites and different cases offered there. Basically, you may get any skin available in CS:GO on such websites as they have loads of all items in stock. There are both the common stuff you can get from a regular Counter-Strike match and the rarest skins that would cost you a fortune on the marketplace. The sites don’t normally hide the probabilities, allowing you to know your chances beforehand. You will typically see the contents of each virtual crate and the chances to get a specific item from opening it.
To give you a better impression of the collection of virtual cases you can open, let us present you with several examples. Hellcase, one of the most popular sites of this category, has around 150 different cases to choose from. There are glove crates, AK crates, cases with other specific guns, and unique collections or combinations of items stored in their loot boxes. Another popular site, CS:GO Live, also has dozens of cases to choose from. Moreover, they have an almost infinite number of user-created cases that you are also able to open. The users design different combinations of loot, the site calculates the price of such a crate automatically, and the other players may enjoy opening the custom crates.
How do you start?
Compared to eSports betting with real money, case opening is very easy to start. The best sites make the whole process intuitive, but we will still present you with a beginner’s guide. The steps you need to perform are:
- Select a site you wish to open cases on.
- Create an account there.
- Link your Steam profile.
- Make a deposit.
- Open the cases.
The first step is probably the hardest one, so we will dedicate it to a separate section. As for the others, they are pretty simple. Linking your Steam profile is necessary to let you withdraw the loot to your Steam inventory: the site’s bot has to know where to send the items. Making a deposit is also pretty intuitive on most sites, but we will still elaborate on it in one of the following sections. All in all, you won’t likely face any challenges on the way, and it will not take you more than five minutes to start after you have selected the site.
Tips on how to choose a decent site
Choosing the site may become the only actual obstacle on your way to online skin opening. There are many websites providing such a service, and they all have different features, making it almost impossible for a newbie to make a decent choice. We have several tips to share, and we hope they will make the process a bit easier for you. Some of the tips we are going to mention will also highlight the aspects that are usually missed by new users, so stay tuned and don’t miss the details!
Check the reputation first
The first and the most important thing when you have a bunch of sites to choose from is to check their reputation. Look for the independent players’ reviews platforms and find the selected websites there. Checking out the experience of other users will immediately let you determine whether the service is reliable. Even if the site is fair, you will most likely find some useful information regarding the site that you might want to know beforehand.
Compare the efficiency
This point is probably the most time-consuming, but it is still very important. The amount of value you will get at a specific site strongly depends on several parameters that are different with every platform. The parameters to analyze are the case opening price, and the contains of the case and the probabilities of getting a specific item. It is the core of the service, so make sure to compare the sites correctly. If one website offers a higher value for the same money, it will be your preferred choice.
Check out the bonuses
The promotions at such sites are not as generous as at online casinos, but they still allow you to get some free value. You can compare the welcome bonuses and other promotions offered at different websites. The parameters to take into account are the bonus amount, the minimum deposit amount required to activate the promotion, the frequency of new promotions, and the terms and conditions behind them.
What about loyalty?
In many cases opening sites also have loyalty programs, granting you lots of value in the long run. You will typically earn some virtual points from opening the cases and receive various bonuses for reaching specific amounts of points earned. The bonuses may include unique features, free skins, free case openings, and other freebies.
Individual approach
There are dozens of great sites on the net, but only one of them is the best for you. Make sure to apply your specific preferences to the research you make: it will guarantee you finding the site that will perfectly suit your needs. For example, if you are just looking to open a few cases, look for the site with the highest welcome bonus. Or, if you are planning to go for the long term, make sure the site will have a rewarding loyalty program and good drop rates.
Read the terms and conditions
The terms are pretty similar across such sites, but it is not a reason to ignore them. We have deliberately put this tip in the last place as reading the terms takes a lot of time. It is logical to make the terms the last filter on your way and only read them for the website you are considering as your final choice. If the conditions are fair and square, be confident to proceed. If you manage to find some significant pitfalls, move to another site.
Deposit methods of skin sites
So far, we have dealt with all the main mechanics behind the case opening, and it is time for us to analyze the different features of such sites. The first thing you have to do after creating an account is to add up your balance. The sites typically accept a good range of payment options. Some of them even accept the in-game skins. The complete list of banking methods accepted across all the sites includes:
- credit and debit cards;
- e-wallets;
- prepaid cards (vouchers);
- cryptocurrencies;
- CS:GO skins;
- payment processors.
There are several other parameters of the banking system you should take into account. First of all, take a look at the deposit limits, specifically the minimum and maximum amounts of funds you can add up to your balance. Secondly, check out the other transaction terms, such as payment processing time and fees charged for the transactions. A decent site won’t charge a fee and will credit the funds to your account balance immediately.
As for the withdrawals, they are pretty intuitive. You will need to link your Steam account, make it public, and enter the link for your trade offer on the website. You won’t have any issues with finding the latter, as almost all the sites provide you with a quick link to the necessary Steam settings page. As soon as you’re ready to withdraw, you simply initiate the procedure on the website and wait for the incoming trade offer from their bot.
Loyalty programs
If you are going to open lots of cases, you should pay special attention to the loyalty program of the website you’re playing at. The conditions for these programs vary a lot, and each site has a unique way to reward the loyalty of its users. The general formula implies you earning some virtual points from opening the cases and getting some free stuff for these points.
Bonuses and promotions
The promotions also vary a lot. Some sites only have a welcome bonus to engage the users to register, while the others offer regular promotions to benefit from almost every day of the week. There might be deposit bonuses increasing the amount of your cash-in, free cases granted for adding up your balance for a specific amount, lotteries, tournaments, and many others.
Another popular type of promotion is a great marketing move used by such sites. They will require you to add the link to the site to your Steam nickname, granting you some free stuff for doing so. You might have seen lots of players in the game having links in their nicknames, and now you know the reasons behind it. The smartest sites don’t design such bonuses as one-time promotions. Instead, they offer a small deposit bonus or another passive feature so that you would not change your nickname right away. When you log in to test your freshly obtained skins, your friends and all the other players in the lobby will see the link in your nickname, granting the website a constant inflow of new users.
To get the most of the case opening, you should compare the combined effect of the loyalty programs and promotions of different sites. Some of them have no loyalty programs at all and focus on the daily bonuses, while others have only a few promotions but reward the active players generously. No matter which site you choose, don’t forget to read the bonus terms attentively and make sure you understand all the conditions behind the freebies.
Case opening sites with promo codes
Some sites also offer secret bonuses available through entering a promo code. Here, we won’t list the codes for all the popular sites as there are too many of them. Once you have selected a website for yourself, make sure to search for the promo codes on the net: maybe they have some freebies for you. To give you an insight into how such codes work, here is the example of Hellcase. The code “12367169” grants free $0.45 to your balance that you can use for opening some crates.
Skin opening on mobile
Most sites are based on HTML5, allowing you to open the cases right from your mobile device. You won’t even need to download a separate app: just log in from the browser of your smartphone, and you’re good to go. The best point is that you may have the same account you are using on your desktop, allowing you to easily switch between case opening at home and on the go. The account balance, loyalty level, inventory, and all the other progress is shared across all your devices.
Other features of case opening sites
The sites may also have a range of unique features, making them stand out from the crowd. Some of the sites offer tournaments among their users, while others provide daily skin lotteries. It is hard to describe all the possible features you can encounter as almost every site tries to implement something unique. We would just like to recommend you checking out the additional features as they may sometimes be more entertaining or beneficial than the main ones.
Pros and cons of case sites
Looting the in-game crates has both advantages and drawbacks, and we think it is crucial to understand them to make an informed choice on whether or not they are worth it for you. Here, we will briefly overview all the main points and do the same for case opening sites so that you can easily compare them after reading the article.
Pros of case sites
Getting nice stuff. You get to choose from numerous cases with all the possible item combinations inside. If you are a fan of AK-47, you may easily find a case that contains skins for this specific device. It will allow you to get something pleasant even in case you won’t receive an expensive item.
Loyalty rewards. In CS:GO, there is no difference between opening your first case and your hundredth case. At the same time, the dedicated sites will actively reward your loyalty and give you some free stuff on the way. If you’re planning to open lots of cases, this will be a major benefit.
Flexibility. There are lots of cases of different price ranges, so you won’t have to spend $2.50 on each and every one of them. If you don’t have that much spare cash, you may open several cheap cases on a site instead.
Additional features. Case opening tournaments, case battles, time-limited events, and all the other features are not available in CS:GO. The sites have these features, making the process more entertaining and adding another layer of side activities to it.
Mobile opening. The sites allow you to open the crates on mobile, without having to stick to your desktop. You may also switch between the devices anytime, having all your progress shared across all the devices you’re using.
Social aspect. Most sites offer you many ways to interact with other users. You may see the results of other players’ openings, challenge them in case battles and interact with the community via other ways. In Counter-Strike, there are no such features, which a bit limits the fun from looting.
Cons of case sites
Reliability issues. Not all the sites operate fairly, and it’s a sad fact. Some of them have the drop chances tweaked, while others will try to steal your skins or even your whole account. That is why we always recommend checking the reputation of the website first. Another good idea would be to enable Steam Guard and two-factor authentication as it will prevent scammers from getting access to your account.
Real money gambling. While Counter-Strike does not really encourage you to gamble with the crates, the case opening sites do. CS:GO cases are basically the same gambling, but it is not how most players see it: for them, it is just a fun way to spend a few bucks and get some new skins. As an opposite to that, the websites encourage you to deposit more real funds, play more actively and use other casino technologies.
Getting addicted. Some sites may turn out to be a little too entertaining, causing you to have an addiction. If you’re aware that you may have such issues, we strongly recommend either avoiding such sites or strictly limiting the number of funds you can lose.
Games of chance. Just as with CS:GO case opening, you cannot affect the outcomes here. No matter how informed or skilled you are, the results only depend on the almighty random. Moreover, you cannot even optimize your decisions with loot boxes as you can with blackjack or some other casino games. There are no tactics or strategies to improve your performance: you get what you roll out.
Conclusion
Summing up our today’s article, we would like to outline that choosing between opening the cases in CS:GO and on the dedicated sites is individual. Both options have their benefits and drawbacks that we have elaborated on through this article, so it is up to the player to decide which option suits them the most. We hope that with our today’s guide, you will be able to make an informed decision and won’t face any problems while using the online case opening services. Feel free to share your thoughts and experience in the comment section or join the discussions of other users there!
CS:GO case opening sites Q&A
Q: Are the cases the same as in CS:GO?
A: Some sites offer the cases with the same contains as in Counter-Strike, but the majority of them have their own cases with different combinations of loot.
Q: Is it safe to use such sites?
A: It’s safe to use some of them, which is why we always recommend checking the reputation of the site before creating an account there.
Q: Why do I have to link my Steam account?
A: The Steam account is needed to let the site know where to withdraw your skins. Most sites also have Steam authorization as a simplified registration procedure, excluding the need to create an account, verify your email address and perform all the other traditional steps.
Q: Can I win a knife there?
A: Yes, most sites have knife crates available. However, do not expect to easily win a $200 knife from opening a $5 crate.
Q: Can I gamble with my skins?
A: Yes, but this service is usually offered at other sites. Some case opening sites also have such a feature, but we recommend gambling on respected and trusted platforms only.
Q: Can I deposit with my skins?
A: Yes, many case opening sites accept CS:GO skins as a deposit method. You will have to give your items to the site’s bot, and the money value of your skins will be credited to your balance. By the way, this is how most sites get the loot for their skins.
Q: Can I open the cases on mobile?
A: Yes, almost every site has a comfortable mobile version. They are typically available from the browser, so you will be able to launch them on smartphones and tablets with almost any operating system.
Q: Are the cases there cheaper than in CS:GO?
A: There are lots of options to choose from, and some of them are cheaper than opening the cases in the game.
Q: How do I deposit?
A: The sites accept various payment methods, including credit or debit cards, e-wallets, prepaid cards, CS:GO skins, cryptocurrencies, and others.
Q: How do I withdraw my skins?
A: The skins are withdrawn by accepting the trade offer from the site’s bot. You will only need to click “withdraw” on the website and wait for the offer to arrive.
Q: What’s the minimum deposit amount?
A: It varies across different sites, but it is typically very low. You won’t need to stack up cash just to try opening a few cheap crates.
