Karambit Case Hardened: blue gem pattern guide
The Karambit Case Hardened is home to the single most valuable knife in CS: pattern #387, the only Karambit seed with a fully blue playside. It belongs to the Chinese collector known as the Blue King, who reportedly waved off a $1.2M offer with "1.2 is low". Everything below it is still seriously expensive: the next-best tier 1s (#442, #269, ~80% playside blue) trade in the $30k-$100k+ range.
HOW THE PATTERN WORKS
Case Hardened is one big mottled texture of blue, purple and gold patina; the pattern index (0-1000) rolled when the item drops picks which slice of it lands on the model. Blue occupies the smallest share of that texture, so a seed that lands heavy blue on the side you actually see - the playside - is the rare one. The blue never fades with wear: float adds scratches and darkens the golds, but a blue gem stays blue even Battle-Scarred.
Pattern tiers (playside blue)
TIER 1
387, 73, 269, 321, 442, 507, 776, 853, 902, 955
#387 is in a class of its own.
TIER 2
4, 74, 82, 130, 179, 182, 273, 282, 341, 375, 377, 453, 470, 494, 510, 541, 661, 664, 670, 698, 713, 721, 798, 809, 823, 828, 838, 868, 891, 905, 917
TIER 3
11, 20, 30, 34, 92, 112, 139, 202, 236, 256, 262, 283, 306, 310, 322, 330, 371, 398, 407, 420, 429, 463, 515, 522, 555, 575, 580, 598, 631, 632, 638, 711, 770, 782, 803, 811, 841, 844, 856, 888, 914, 916, 919, 965, 989
Tier boundaries vary a little between the Steam guide and the databases; the seeds themselves are cross-confirmed.
GOLD
896, 231, 939, 388
#231 brightest, #388 cleanest.
WHAT COUNTS ON THIS ITEM
Tier = blue on the playside blade (the side facing the camera in first person). #387's backside is mostly yellow and nobody cares - the backside never sets the tier.
OBLIGATORY PLUG
The odds of unboxing a #387 are, rounding sensibly, zero. Our knife draws tell you the exact pattern before you enter, and a ticket costs less than the inspect-link addiction you already have. Browse the draws ->
Knowledge base: Steam guide: Karambit Case Hardened patterns · Hotspawn tier list
