Nova | Sand Dune (Battle-Scarred)

Skin overview

Nova | Sand Dune is a sand-coloured spray finish with no artwork, and in Battle-Scarred that plain coat is heavily stripped. Large patches of the barrel, receiver and pump show bare darker material, so the gun looks more weathered metal than beige. It is the cheapest way to put this skin in your inventory, and the worn look gives it a character the clean grades lack.

Item type: shotgun. Consumer Grade is the lowest tier of the rarity scale: the most common skins, most often used in trade-up contracts.

Solid Color: a single colour without a pattern; wear dulls it evenly and rubs it off along the edges.

The remaining qualities of this skin: Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested and Well-Worn.

How the skin looks in Battle-Scarred

The whole Nova is painted in solid sand shades with no pattern: the long barrel and the receiver carry a pale beige, while the ribbed pump forend and the stock take a slightly deeper tan. The front sight, rear sight and small fittings near the receiver are a darker brownish tone, which keeps the outline readable.

Large areas of paint are gone from the barrel, receiver and pump, leaving patchy dark material. The stock is heavily rubbed along its edges and grip ribbing. In game the gun looks weathered and mottled rather than uniformly beige, with only flat recessed areas keeping the sand colour.

Battle-Scarred wear: float 0.45–0.8

The float of Nova | Sand Dune ranges from 0.06 to 0.8; the Battle-Scarred quality covers 0.45–0.8 — 47% 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 Italy Collection with 15 skins in total.

It drops from:

• DreamHack 2013 Souvenir Package
• EMS One 2014 Souvenir Package

Price by quality

By price this skin is 5th of 9 skins Consumer Grade Nova in this quality (the first being the dearest).

Souvenir version

There is also a the Souvenir version with tournament stickers.

Which stickers suit it

Brown, gold, cream and muted olive stickers blend with the sand palette for a tonal craft. For contrast, a single dark or black sticker on the receiver stands out well against the beige.

What to look at before you buy

• Look at the float position within the grade, since a low float in Field-Tested or Well-Worn keeps noticeably more paint on the barrel and pump.
• Check the muzzle, barrel top and pump ribs in the inspect view, as these lose paint first.
• Souvenir copies exist and come with stickers already applied, so decide whether you want those or a plain copy.
• Pattern does not matter on this solid-colour finish, so focus on float, stickers and name tag.

Who should buy Battle-Scarred

• Budget entry for anyone who just wants the skin in the inventory.
• Fans of heavily weathered, mottled finishes.
• The cheapest way in, with a rugged look of its own.