Souvenir SSG 08 | Blood in the Water (Factory New)

Skin overview

SSG 08 | Blood in the Water is a Covert sniper rifle skin with an airbrushed shark that bursts out of the receiver with open jaws, surrounded by red streaks on a pale base. In Factory New the teal of the shark, the white teeth and the red spatter keep their full contrast and sharp edges. This is the version for buyers who want the artwork exactly as it was painted.

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

Custom Paint Job: hand-painted across the whole body; this is the type where wear shows most, the artwork rubs down to metal.

The remaining qualities of this skin: Minimal Wear and Field-Tested. The same quality also exists as the StatTrak™ version.

Appearance in Factory New

The main artwork sits on the receiver and the area above the magazine: a shark head in teal and blue with an open mouth full of white teeth. From there red streaks and spatter run forward along the handguard, over a pale grey-white base with dark vent cut-outs.

No visible wear on any part of the rifle. The pale base on the handguard is even, the red spatter has crisp edges and the shark's teeth stay bright white. At normal distance the shark is the first thing the eye catches on the model. Since this grade covers only the very start of the float range, every copy looks practically identical.

Factory New quality — float range 0.06–0.07

The whole float range of Souvenir SSG 08 | Blood in the Water is 0.06–0.2; Factory New takes the 0.06–0.07 segment (7% of the scale). The lower the float within the range, the cleaner the surface looks and the higher a copy is usually priced.

Origin of the skin

Souvenir SSG 08 | Blood in the Water belongs to The Arms Deal 2 Collection, which holds 12 skins.

The source is CS:GO Weapon Case 2 (on sale since Sep 20, 2013).

Souvenir version

This is the Souvenir version: such copies dropped to tournament viewers in souvenir packages; the team stickers and signatures on them cannot be removed or chosen. Souvenir items never carry StatTrak™. There is also the regular version without tournament stickers.

Stickers and crafts

Red, white and teal stickers match the shark and the blood spatter, and dark or holo stickers in ocean blues work too. Place them on the handguard or the stock so the shark's head on the receiver stays visible.

What to check before buying

• Check where the float sits within the grade, especially in Field-Tested, where a lower value means fewer scratches on the pale handguard.
• Inspect the edges of the handguard and the raised parts of the receiver, as they are the first to show wear.
• Look at the shark's face and teeth in the inspect view to make sure no scratches cross the main image.
• Check applied stickers and the name tag, since stickers on the receiver can cover the shark.

Who the Factory New quality suits

• Collectors who want the shark artwork with no marks at all.
• Sticker crafters who need a perfectly clean base around the image.
• Conclusion: the choice for those who value a flawless finish over saving money.