M249 | Nebula Crusader (Battle-Scarred)

Skin overview

Battle-Scarred is the roughest version of the arcade-themed M249, where large parts of the printed artwork are worn down to bare material. The red stock and dark receiver remain as colour blocks, and fragments of the lettering and character art show through the damage. It is the cheapest way to own the skin and has its own beaten-cabinet character.

Item type: machinegun. Restricted sits in the middle of the rarity scale: noticeably rarer than Mil-Spec, yet not truly rare.

Gunsmith: several techniques combined on one item; some parts rub off, others only dull.

Appearance in Battle-Scarred

The receiver is dark navy with a cabinet-style art panel carrying yellow title lettering, a green figure and a round orange emblem. The box magazine is the centrepiece, painted like a game cover with a red-haired pilot portrait, bold yellow and orange text and a glossy, slightly iridescent sheen.

Large areas of the artwork are worn away, especially on the magazine box and the receiver, exposing bare material underneath. The stock and handguard carry heavy chipping along edges and raised parts. In game the gun reads as blocks of red and dark blue with broken fragments of the original print.

Battle-Scarred quality — float range 0.45–1

The float of M249 | Nebula Crusader ranges from 0 to 1; the Battle-Scarred quality covers 0.45–1 — 55% 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 Shadow Collection with 16 skins in total.

It drops from Shadow Case (on sale since Sep 15, 2015).

Price by quality

Taking Battle-Scarred as the baseline:

• Factory New — 6.4× dearer
• Minimal Wear — 2.2× dearer
• Field-Tested — 10% dearer
• Well-Worn — 1% dearer

The comparison uses our cheapest listing of each quality; where there is none, the market reference.

Among 3 skins of the M249 in the Restricted grade and this quality, this skin is the dearest.

StatTrak™ and Souvenir

There is also a the StatTrak™ version: the counter on the weapon tracks kills. Right now it is 2.1× dearer than the regular one. There is also a the Souvenir version with tournament stickers.

Stickers and crafts

Retro, pixel-style or comic stickers fit the arcade cabinet theme best. Yellow, red and orange accents echo the title lettering, and placing them on the dark receiver area away from the art panel keeps the main graphic readable.

What to look at before you buy

• Check the magazine box in inspect, since its corners and printed cover show wear before other parts.
• Look at where the float sits within the wear grade, as copies near the cleaner end keep the lettering noticeably sharper.
• Make sure any applied stickers do not cover the receiver art panel if you want the arcade theme to stay visible.
• If a name tag or StatTrak counter matters to you, confirm it on the specific copy before buying.

Who the Battle-Scarred quality suits

• Budget entry players who want the skin at the lowest step.
• Owners who enjoy a heavily beaten, worn-down cabinet aesthetic.
• The entry point for those who care more about owning it than about clean art.