CS2 Trade-Up Guide

CS2 Knife Trade-Up Calculator — Craft Knives from Covert Skins

Since October 2025, CS2 trade-up contracts let you combine 5 Covert (red) skins to receive one random Gold-tier Special Item — a knife or glove. TradeUpX calculates EV, cost, and float targets for every knife trade-up path, helping you find the most cost-efficient route to the knife you want.

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Covert (5×)Input Rarity

Gold / Knife / GloveOutput Rarity

Varies widelyTypical ROI Range

€200–2,000+Typical Cost

How CS2 Knife Trade-Ups Work

The October 2025 Re-Retakes update added a new trade-up tier: 5 Covert (red) skins → 1 Gold Special Item (knife or glove). The rules:

Exactly 5 Covert skins as input — all from the same or compatible collections
Output is a random knife or glove from the collection's Gold-tier pool
Float formula is the same: normalized average input float maps to output float range
StatTrak inputs produce StatTrak knife/glove outputs

Not every collection has a Gold-tier pool. Only collections with knife/glove drops can be used. Collections like Operation Breakout (Butterfly Knife), Spectrum 2, and Clutch give access to the most valuable knives.

Best Collections for Knife Trade-Ups

The value of a knife trade-up depends entirely on which knives are in the output pool:

Butterfly Knife Pool

Operation Breakout is the primary source of Butterfly Knives. Covert input skins from this collection are expensive, but Butterfly Knives in Factory New can reach €800–3,000+, making EV calculations interesting.

Karambit & M9 Bayonet Pool

Collections like Chroma, Chroma 2, and Falchion give access to Karambit and M9 Bayonet outputs — among the most liquid knife types with strong FN premiums.

Budget Knife Pools

Shadow Daggers and Falchion Knife pools offer cheaper entry points (€200–400 per contract) with lower output values. Good for learning the mechanics before committing to high-value contracts.

Tip: Use TradeUpX to scan all knife-eligible collections simultaneously. Sort by EV to find the current best opportunity.

Float Targeting for Factory New Knives

Factory New knives carry enormous premiums — often 3–10× the Field-Tested price. Since knife trade-up output float is deterministic (same formula as regular trade-ups), you can engineer FN outputs.

To target Factory New (float 0.00–0.07) output, your 5 Covert inputs need an average adjusted float below ~0.07. This means sourcing FN or very low MW Covert inputs — which themselves command a premium.

The economics: if FN Covert inputs cost 30% more than FT, but FN knife output is worth 5× more than FT knife, the float premium is absolutely worth targeting.

Enable Mixed Float mode in TradeUpX to find the exact input float combination for your target knife wear.

Is a Knife Trade-Up Worth It?

✅ You want a specific knife and buying it outright is more expensive than the trade-up path
✅ Multiple knives in the output pool have similar value (lower variance)
✅ You can source cheap FN Covert inputs to target FN knife output
✅ You have enough bankroll to run several contracts (knife pools often have 5–15 output skins)
❌ You're expecting to profit from a single contract — variance is very high
❌ Only one knife in the output pool is valuable and its drop rate is 5% or lower

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many skins do I need for a knife trade-up in CS2?

Exactly 5 Covert (red rarity) skins. Unlike normal trade-ups which require 10 skins, the Covert → Gold tier uses only 5 inputs. All 5 must be from collections that have a Gold-tier knife or glove output pool.

Which collections give knife trade-ups in CS2?

Collections with Gold-tier pools include Operation Breakout (Butterfly Knife), Spectrum 2, Chroma series, Clutch, and others. Not all collections have knife outputs. TradeUpX automatically identifies which collections are knife-eligible.

Can you get a StatTrak knife from a trade-up?

Yes. If all 5 Covert inputs are StatTrak, the output knife or glove will also be StatTrak. StatTrak Covert inputs are significantly more expensive, but StatTrak FN knives command extreme premiums.