If you’re tempted to buy and open cases in CS2, here’s everything you need to know about them, including the best ROI cases, how to open them, and case ratings.
While CS2 is best known for its competitive gameplay and thriving esports scene, it also supports an in-game economy worth billions. This economy largely comes from in-game crates that players can open for a fee, which can result in a rare and expensive item.
Crate openings have seen a resurgence in interest with the launch of Counter-Strike 2, so new and returning players may be wondering if they’re still worth opening.
Here’s everything you need to know about CS2 cases.
Best CS2 Files to Open: File ROI
If you can’t resist taking a chance on some cases, despite the bad odds (see exact odds below), then you should at least try to open cases with the best possible return.
Based on the average price of skins in the case, compared to the price of the case and key, here are the best cs2 cases to open depending on their return on investment, in September 2024:
Even with these “best” cases to open, you can see that you will lose on average almost half of your money opening them.
If you’re looking for the most “profitable” CS2 cases, you should know that there aren’t any. To profit from opening cases, you just need to be very lucky.
How to get cases in CS2
There are two ways to obtain a crate in Counter-Strike 2: by collecting it and by purchasing it.
Abandoned cases
The first method is free and simply requires playing the game. The first time you increase your account level in a week, you will receive a weekly drop – you can then choose a crate as one of your rewards. The crate you get will be completely random, but there is a 99% chance that it will come from the “active loot pool”. These are currently: Revolution Crate, Recoil Crate, Dreams & Nightmares Crate, Snakebite Crate, and Fracture Crate.
There is a 1% chance that you will receive a “rare” case, which will usually be a more expensive case. We will explain the case prices later.
ValveCases are awarded to players after they first advance in the rankings each week.
Buy crates
The second method to obtain cases, and the one you will need to use if you want to open multiple cases, is to purchase them. You can buy cases of the Steam Market or from third party websites.
Third-party websites usually offer cases cheaper than the Steam Marketplace, so if you want to buy cases in bulk, you should use a site like Skinportor others, where players will list their cases usually en masse.
Once you have purchased one or more crates, they will be added to your inventory, ready to be opened. You can purchase any crate this way and see what skins and knives are available in each one.
You can also resell the cases on the Marketplace, if you decide not to open them – but keep in mind that there is a 15% fee on the Steam Marketplace, so you won’t get the full purchase price back unless the price of the case has increased.
How to open folders in CS2
Once you have one or more cases that you want to open, there is one more thing you need before you can open them: a key.
Each case requires a unique key, specific to that case. You can purchase the key directly on Steam, right before opening the case. But be careful: keys cannot be refunded or sold on the Steam Marketplace, so don’t buy them unless you intend to use them.
ValveBefore opening the case, you will see all the skins you could get and the price of the key you need to buy.
How much do CS2 box keys cost?
The keys to the case cost a flat rate of $2.49or the equivalent in your currency. Do not buy keys from the Steam Marketplace – they will be much more expensive! Buy them directly from the in-game store instead.
If you buy a key from the Steam Marketplace, it means it is tradable, as it is from before an update when Valve made all keys untradable. You simply need to resell it on the Steam Marketplace to recoup your cost.
CS2 Case Ratings
The chances of opening crates and getting a rare item, such as a secret skin, knife or gloves, are of course not very high.
In most cases you open, you will receive a Mil-Spec item (blue rarity), and sometimes a Restricted (purple) or Classified (pink) item. You can see the success probabilities of cases in CS2 here:
Each item in a briefcase has a 10% chance to be “StatTrak”. This adds a kill counter to the weapon or knife (but not gloves, because you can’t kill enemies with gloves on!).
Is business worth it?
As you can see, 95% of the crates you open will give you a blue or purple skin, and most often it will be a blue one. Blue and purple skins are always the cheapest, usually ranging from a few cents to a few dollars at most, unless they come from a very expensive crate.
Considering the price of the case and key, you’re losing on average 60-70% of your money with any case. So, hopefully, if you spent $100 on cases, you’ll get about $30-40 back in value.
Of course, it is possible that you will get very lucky and open a Knife with your first crate, making a huge profit. But the chances of this happening are very low.
If you want a specific skin or knife, you should just buy what you want from the Steam Market or third-party sites, rather than spending money on cases. It will almost certainly be cheaper.
Knives in CS2 Sheaths
The biggest draw of opening crates is obviously the knives. On average, you’ll get a knife (or gloves) every 400 crates or so, with a 0.26% chance.
Twitch: Summit1gA rare emerald butterfly knife like this is worth over $20,000.
However, not all knives are available in all sheaths. For example, the coveted butterfly knife, the most expensive type of knife, is only available in three specific sheaths. Here are some of the most sought-after knives in CS2 and the sheaths they come in.
Butterfly knife cases
- Breakout Operation Case
- Dreams and Nightmares Case
- Operation Riptide Case
Karambit Cases
- Gamma Case
- Gamma 2 case
- Chroma Case
- Chroma 2 Case
- Chroma 3 Case
- Revolver holster
- Operation Vanguard Armament Case
- Operation Phoenix Weapon Case
- eSport Summer Case 2014
- Winter Offensive Weapon Case
- CS:GO 3 Weapon Case
- eSports Suitcase Winter 2013
- CS:GO 2 Weapon Case
- eSports Case 2013
- Operation Bravo Case
- CS:GO Weapon Case
M9 Bayonet Holsters
- Gamma Case
- Gamma 2 case
- Chroma Case
- Chroma 2 Case
- Chroma 3 Case
- Revolver holster
- Operation Vanguard Armament Case
- Operation Phoenix Weapon Case
- eSport Summer Case 2014
- Winter Offensive Weapon Case
- CS:GO 3 Weapon Case
- eSports Suitcase Winter 2013
- CS:GO 2 Weapon Case
- eSports Case 2013
- Operation Bravo Case
- CS:GO Weapon Case
Skeleton Knife Cases
- Fracture case
- Shattered Web Case
Pandora’s Box Glove Cases
- Glove case
- Operation Hydra Case
Vice Glove Cases
- Clutch housing
- Revolution Case
Kukri Knife Cases
The most expensive CS2 suitcases
- CS:GO Weapon Case: $108.47
- Operation Bravo Case: $54.51
- eSports Case 2013: $50.14
- Operation Hydra Case: $23.40
- CS:GO 2 Weapon Case: $16.49
- Huntsman Gun Case: $11.45
- 2013 Winter eSports Box: $10.83
- Summer 2014 eSports Box: $9.47
- CS:GO 3 Weapon Case: $9.20
- Operation Breakout Case: $8.14
The most expensive CS2 cases are usually because they are old, rare, or even discontinued. This means that every time a case is opened, there are fewer of them in stock.
The cheapest CS2 cases
- Anti-recoil case: $0.15
- Snake Bite Case: $0.20
- Fracture case: $0.25
- Revolution Case: $0.30
- Clutch housing: $0.43
- Prisma Case: $0.61
- CS20 Case: $0.63
- Danger Zone Case: $0.74
- Prisma 2 Case: $0.75
- Kilowatt case: $0.77
Cheaper crates usually contain less desirable skins, or are in abundance, meaning they aren’t very rare at all. These prices fluctuate on the Steam Marketplace, but are generally around this price, as of September 2024.
Fortunately, it is clear that opening cases will not be a profitable business. If you see friends or big streamers getting lucky and opening knives and gloves, it is still likely that they have suffered an overall loss due to the number of cases opened.
You may hear stories like a new player opening a knife worth over $150,000, but remember that the chances of that happening are in the millions and you might as well be playing the lottery.
With Counter-Strike 2 replacing CS:GO, crate openings will likely continue to increase, but remember the golden rule: just buy the skin you want, instead of buying the crate.
That’s all you need to know about cases in CS2. For more content on the game, check out our guides below:
Best CS2 Settings | CS2 Controls You Need to Know | How to Jump and Throw in CS2 | Can You Play Left-Handed in Counter-Strike 2?
