Butterfly Knife Fade Patterns

Few knives from Counter-Strike have sparked as much excitement as the introduction of the Butterfly in 2014. Its smooth opening animation and top-notch design instantly won over players, making it one of the most popular knives of its time. Since its release, the Butterfly Knife has received 25 eye-catching skins. While all of them have their own charm, Fades are perhaps the most well-known of the bunch.

With their vibrant color palette and extreme rarity, Butterfly Fade skins are popular among collectors, traders, and casual players alike. With so many variations available, how does one define the best Butterfly Fade? Does such a thing even exist? Read on to find out.

What Are Butterfly Fade Skins?

The most notable feature of this skin family is how diverse they are. Every Butterfly Fade pattern combines striking shades of purple, yellow, and pink in different proportions. When a player opens a case containing this skin, the game generates a random seed index, a number that determines the ratio of colors on the blade. Every Fade skin looks a little different, and these subtle changes can drastically affect its price.

There are nearly 1000 Butterfly Fade patterns, and while all are valuable, some are harder to find and thus more expensive. Collectors typically seek out two unique pattern types:

1. The Full Yellow Fade (also known as Mango Fade): The knives dominated by yellow.
2. 100% Full Fade: The knives covered in purple and pink.

The float range of Fade skins is reduced, varying between 0.00 (FN) and 0.08 (MW), with the latter category sometimes being more expensive due to its rarity. While visible scratches can definitely reduce a skin’s value, they are usually hard to spot in Minimal Wear condition, and so are not a concern when dealing with Fades.

Butterfly Fade Pattern Seeds

You can’t predict which Butterfly Knife Fade patterns you’ll get from opening cases. As a rule, the closer a pattern gets to 100% Fade (with little to no gray areas), the more valuable and rare the skin is. However, Mango Fade patterns are an exception to this rule, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for them, too.

If you don’t know how to check the Fade percentage, we suggest you visit our article on the topic before proceeding any further. With that out of the way, let’s see what this skin family has to offer.

100% Full Fade

Let’s kick off with the arguably most beautiful CS2 Butterfly Knife Fade patterns. Despite their visual differences, all the blades in this category feature purple tips, red middle sections, and a hint of yellow near the handle.

While you can find some 100% Butterfly Fade knives on the market, get ready to deal with comically high prices. Depending on the skin’s condition and pattern, a 100% Fade can cost you up to $9,700.

98–99% Fake Fade

This group of CS2 Butterfly Fade patterns is called “fake” because fraudsters often market them as 100% Fade skins. The tricky part is that it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between 99% or 98% knives and a Full Fade. Fortunately, you can always check the pattern index in-game or in your inventory.

Nonetheless, if you manage to find one of these skins at a reasonable price, it might be worth picking up. The average price for a Fake Fade is around $4,500, depending on the item’s float and the trading platform you’re using.

95–97%

This group includes skins with 97-95% Fade. The differences between a Full Butterfly Fade in CS2 and one of these knives are small but noticeable, as there is less purple on the tip and more yellow near the handle. Still, expect to pay $3,600 or more to get any skin from the list below.

50/50 (90–94%)

A 50-50 Fade has a 94% to 90% of a Full Fade’s colors, but there are no signs of purple on the knife’s tip. Instead, the blade is entirely yellow and pink, with a small gray area near the handle. With this decrease in quality, you would expect lower prices, but that’s not the case. Although these patterns aren't particularly sought after, their price still hovers around $3,200.

70/30 (81–89%)

If your knife’s pattern number doesn’t show in any of the categories above, it likely falls into the 89-81% groups. The key visual feature of this category is the abundance of yellow on the blade. The price range of a 70/30 Fade doesn’t differ much from that of a 50/50 Fade, so you can expect to pay around $3,200 or even more for one of these knives.

80% Butterfly Mango Fade

Finally, let’s review what many users believe to be the absolute best Butterfly Fade pattern. This Fade type is called Mango due to the bright yellow covering nearly the entire blade. Just like the Full Fade, this is an extremely rare skin variant (with a drop chance of approximately 0.00000054%), but you can theoretically find one on third-party platforms. However, the starting price for skins of this group is $10,000.

How Float Values Impact the Butterfly Knife Fade

People usually assume that a lower float means a cleaner blade, fewer scratches, and a higher price. And most of the time, that is true. You can get the best Butterfly Knife Fade pattern in the game, but if the float is bad, the blade just won’t hit as hard in inspect.

However, what makes Butterfly Knife Fade a little different is its very narrow float range of 0.00 to 0.08. Since it is available only in Factory New and Minimal Wear, even the higher float variants are not that bad. In fact, at the time of writing this article, an average Butterfly Fade in MW is worth about $20 more than an FN one, both priced at ~$2,600. That’s because MW Fades are rarer, even though they look worse. We know that’s counterintuitive and kinda goes against common sense, but that’s how the market works. And this price difference can get way more dramatic at times.

That’s why serious collectors and traders who search for the best Fade pattern for the Butterfly Knife don’t just check the Fade percentages, but also pay attention to the float.

How to Get CS2 Butterfly Fade Skins?

There are two ways to obtain a Butterfly Fade knife:

1. Open the case. Purchase an Operation Breakout Weapon Case and open it. However, be prepared to do this a lot, as the chance of getting any knife from the case is only 0.26%, and there's no guarantee the knife will be a Butterfly Fade.
2. Visit a trading platform. There are dozens of Butterfly Fade skins trading on various platforms, so you can simply browse for the most attractive deal and buy it from another CS2 player.

There are detailed reviews of CS2 Fade patterns for other knives on our website, including:

1. The best Skeleton Fade pattern.
2. The best Karambit Fade pattern.
3. The best Talon Fade pattern.
4. The best Classic Fade pattern.

Conclusion

The Butterfly Fade knives are among the most expensive skins in the game. However, if you want to stand out in matches or purchase a piece of CS history, this awesome knife type definitely deserves your attention.

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