Rich/Budget CS2 Inventory: Expensive and Cheap Blue Sets for Any Budget!
Blue color in Counter-Strike 2 represents coolness, style, and high value, as it’s no secret that blue skins are quite rare and expensive guests on the marketplace. In this article, we compare two sets of blue skins for the most popular weapon categories. We’ll evaluate their visual features, compatibility, and decide whether it’s worth overpaying for expensive skins or if you can build a beautiful inventory without extra expenses. Let’s go!
Gloves + Knife Combo
Budget Option:
- Moto Gloves | Polygon + Bowie Knife | Bright Water – $465.96
Looking at the cost of this combo, it’s hard to call it budget, but these are indeed the cheapest options with minimal visual flaws. The gloves are made of dark blue leather with a geometric blue pattern and textured protectors. The inner side features dark gray and blue inserts, creating a harmonious and restrained design. The knife blade is decorated with a camouflage pattern in blue tones and perfectly matches the small pattern on the gloves. This set looks especially great on the CT side with an agent like Special Agent Ava | FBI with blue sleeves.
Premium Option:
- Hand Wraps | Cobalt Skulls + Survival Knife | Doppler – $1171.35
This duo embodies premium quality. Hand Wraps | Cobalt Skulls feature bright blue canvas tape with a skull pattern on the outer layer and dark blue fabric inside. The unique skull design makes them some of the most unusual gloves in the game. The knife with its thin metallic blade and unusual shape adds lightness and sophistication to the final combination. The gradient wavy transitions on the knife perfectly complement the gloves, creating an elite look.
What to Choose?
The budget set offers excellent harmony for a lower price, especially if you play CT with a suitable agent. The premium option looks luxurious and unique thanks to the skulls and Doppler coloring on the knife. The markup for the expensive set is quite high, but it’s not a five-fold difference like other sets. If you have the opportunity – we would definitely lean towards the premium option and start collecting it with the knife.
USP-S
Budget Option:
- USP-S | Royal Guard (Field-Tested, $9.31)
Royal Guard is a new item from The Ascent Collection that can now drop in weekly drops. Its dark blue base with gold inserts resembles a ceremonial uniform of an honor guard, making the skin look elegant and restrained, perfectly fitting into a budget set for its price.
Premium Option:
- USP-S | Blueprint (Factory New, $42.92)
The pattern imitates a blueprint with bright blue lines forming the deepest blue color. The rich shades perfectly match premium gloves, and the ability to get a lower quality version makes it accessible even for budget sets.
What to Choose?
Blueprint wins due to color depth and versatility – it looks expensive even in more worn versions. Royal Guard is good but seems less expressive and will completely depreciate over time due to the large quantity on the marketplace.
Glock-18
Budget Option:
- Glock-18 | Bunsen Burner (Minimal Wear, $0.83)
This skin is a real find for pennies. The slide is covered with dark turquoise paint with metallic flakes and flame tongues in a blue-light blue gradient. Simple but stylish design makes it an excellent addition to a budget set.
Premium Option:
- Glock-18 | Twilight Galaxy (Minimal Wear, $210.15)
The dark blue slide with metallic shine in this variant looks like a starry sky. The remaining parts of the weapon are unpainted, giving the skin a minimalist but luxurious appearance.
What to Choose?
For us, this is the most paradoxical pair, as both skins are visually very similar, but the price difference is colossal. Obviously, this is a case where overpaying makes no sense and the budget option wins. If you want a more expressive glitter effect or want to get rid of the flame tongue, stickers will help solve these nuances much cheaper than $200.
AK-47
Budget Option:
- AK-47 | Ice Coaled (Minimal Wear, $9.78)
A bright skin with gradient pattern in blue and green tones. Dotted pattern on the handguard, turquoise accents on the magazine, and geometric pictograms create a technological and modern design. For its price, it’s a worthy choice for a blue set.
Premium Option:
- AK-47 | Leet Museo (Field-Tested, $131.58)
Leet Museo is quite an unusual choice, where the design is inspired by Picasso’s cubism. Two terrorists against the backdrop of Dust II, chickens, and urban landscape elements create unique art where blue accents definitely dominate. The skin from the “Riptide” operation case is rapidly growing in price, making it not only stylish but also investment attractive.
What to Choose?
Ice Coaled wins in price-to-quality ratio, especially for a blue set where its light blue shades look organic. Leet Museo is cool but includes extra colors, reducing its harmony. The budget option is preferable here.
M4A1-S
Budget Option:
- M4A1-S | Nightmare (Field-Tested, $13.24)
A dark skin in black-blue tones featuring a demonic horse head and light blue crystals. It perfectly fits into a blue set, adding a creepy vibe.
Premium Option:
- M4A1-S | Master Piece (Field-Tested, $219.09)
Master Piece is a cult skin from 2014 with an abstract blue pattern and graffiti inscription in red-orange tones. This item is more about status than visuals.
What to Choose?
Nightmare looks more interesting and fits better into a blue set due to color harmony. Master Piece can be kept in inventory as a rarity, but since we need to make one single choice, the budget option wins.
M4A4
Budget Option:
- M4A4 | Desolate Space (Field-Tested, $8.97)
Desolate Space is a cosmic masterpiece with a beige skeleton in a spacesuit, purple tentacles, and blue electric discharge. The skin is conceptual and perfect for a blue set.
Premium Option:
- M4A4 | The Emperor (Minimal Wear, $63.25)
Inspired by the Tarot card “The Emperor,” this skin combines blue shades, an image of a crowned man, black bird, and golden patterns. Small elements like flags and coats of arms add depth.
What to Choose?
Both skins are incredibly cool with extremely detailed storylines in their art. Desolate Space wins due to price and unique cosmic vibe, but The Emperor looks majestic. So here it’s a matter of taste, nothing more.
AWP
Budget Option:
- AWP | Corticera (Minimal Wear, $24.55)
An elegant skin with blue background and blooming corticeira branches in green tones. Schematic flowers and leaves add refinement, making it an excellent choice for a blue set.
Premium Option:
- AWP | Hyper Beast (Minimal Wear, $58.16)
Hyper Beast is a cult skin with a psychedelic monster in green-red-orange-blue palette. This is a legend that couldn’t pass by a blue inventory.
What to Choose?
The price difference isn’t that big, especially if you get a more worn version of Hyper Beast. Corticera is good but still less expressive. For a blue set, Hyper Beast is an excellent choice.
Conclusion: Budget or Premium?
- Budget Set ($532.64)
- Premium Set ($2028.08)
The budget set offers an excellent balance of price, quality, and style, especially if you value a pure blue palette. But the premium set impresses with uniqueness, and some skins are really worth their money. As always, we would recommend finding the perfect balance that won’t hit your wallet too hard and will match your taste.
