AWP | Lightning Strike (Minimal Wear)

Skin overview

AWP | Lightning Strike pairs a violet anodized body with lightning bolts and a dark barrel and scope. Minimal Wear for this skin sits right at the top of a very clean float range, so the purple and the bolt pattern look almost the same as on Factory New. Any difference is limited to small marks that are hard to spot outside close inspection.

Item type: sniper rifle. Covert is the top weapon rarity: usually the most prominent items of a collection or case.

Anodized Multicolored: several colours in the metal coating; it wears little, the colours only dull with use.

Other qualities of this skin: Factory New.

Appearance in Minimal Wear

The receiver, the lower body and the stock are coated in saturated purple anodized paint over a metallic base, which gives the colour a glossy, slightly shifting tone. Thin pale violet and white lightning bolts branch across the receiver and run down towards the grip and the stock.

In Minimal Wear the finish stays nearly intact, with only faint specks possible on the stock edges and the lower edge of the receiver. The purple keeps its colour and sheen, and the lightning pattern does not lose definition. In game the difference from Factory New is practically invisible, including in first-person view. The receiver face, the bolts and the grip still look clean.

Minimal Wear wear: float 0.07–0.08

The float of AWP | Lightning Strike ranges from 0 to 0.08; the Minimal Wear quality covers 0.07–0.08 — 12% of this skin’s scale. Within the range, copies with a lower float look cleaner and are valued higher.

Where the skin comes from: collection and case

The skin’s collection is The Arms Deal Collection with 9 skins in total.

The source is CS:GO Weapon Case (on sale since Sep 20, 2013).

Price by quality

Among 20 skins of the AWP in the Covert grade and this quality, this skin ranks 7th by price, counting from the dearest.

StatTrak™ and Souvenir

There is also a the StatTrak™ version: the counter on the weapon tracks kills. Right now it is 3.3× dearer than the regular one. There is also a the Souvenir version with tournament stickers.

Which stickers suit it

Purple, white and silver stickers continue the colour scheme, while holographic or foil stickers echo the metallic sheen of the anodized paint. Placing them on the receiver keeps the lightning on the stock visible, and black or dark stickers blend with the barrel area.

What to look at before you buy

• Compare the float within the range, since the whole range is very clean and both grades look close.
• Check the stock edges and the lower edge of the receiver on screenshots, as marks appear there first.
• Look at the stickers and their positions, because they cover parts of the lightning pattern.
• Decide between the regular, StatTrak™ and Souvenir versions, as all of them exist for this skin.

Who the Minimal Wear quality suits

• Players who want the same look in game as Factory New at a lower entry cost.
• Buyers who do not inspect the rifle closely and care about the in-game view.
• Sticker crafters for whom tiny edge marks do not matter.
• In short: a practical option that looks nearly identical to Factory New.