CS2 Skin Patterns & Seeds
Every CS2 skin carries a paint seed (pattern index 0 to 1000) that fixes where the finish texture sits on the weapon. For most finishes it barely matters. For the five families below it moves the price more than wear does.
Each family page holds the community canon with sources, per-seed data where it is deterministic, and live prices for every affected skin.
The five families
Updated 6 h ago
Case Hardened Blue gems: AK 661, Karambit 387 2 tier lists · 6 famous seeds 24 skins $10.37–$604.69 
Fade 1001 seeds mapped per skin 1001 seeds × 34 skins 34 skins $0.140–$2,150.00 
Marble Fade Fire and Ice: Karambit 412 11 Fire and Ice seeds ranked 19 skins $92.18–$1,355.00 
Doppler Gems: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald 4 gems + 4 phases priced 33 skins $76.39–$2,070.29 
Crimson Web Triple webs: M9 seed 718 2 web-count facts, sourced 25 skins $0.130–$568.80 Price range = cheapest fee-included ask per skin, base pattern without a seed premium · How we price →
Paint seeds: the guide
What a paint seed is
The paint seed is a number from 0 to 1000 that the game assigns when an item is created. It sets the offset and rotation of the finish texture on the weapon model. The seed is permanent: it cannot be changed, repainted or transferred.
Why patterns move price
Some finish textures are uneven: Case Hardened has stretches of solid blue, Fade gradients open up differently, web finishes vary in web count. The rare layouts land on a handful of seeds out of 1000, and the market prices them separately from the base skin.
How to check a seed before buying
Open the item in the inspect view ("Inspect in Game") — the seed is shown in the item info. Compare the number against the tier lists and datasets on the family pages; a pattern price is only worth paying after the seed checks out.