Between 2014 and 2016 Valve released five new knife models, each in a case of its own. Four of them, the Huntsman, Falchion, Shadow Daggers and Bowie, now share their later cases with the fifth, the Butterfly Knife, and all five come in the same 25 finishes. Here is how the four compare, from launch case to animation.
One knife per case
| Knife | Arrived | Launch case |
|---|---|---|
| Huntsman Knife | May 1, 2014 | Huntsman Weapon Case |
| Falchion Knife | May 2015, with Operation Bloodhound | Falchion Case |
| Shadow Daggers | September 2015, with the Shadow Boxing update | Shadow Case |
| Bowie Knife | February 17, 2016, with Operation Wildfire | Operation Wildfire Case |
Each launch case holds only its own knife, in the original finishes plus vanilla, and the game's item files give each one a separate knife list. The Butterfly Knife, from July 2014, belongs to the same generation and has its own guide.
The shared Chroma and Gamma cases
Later cases put all five models in one pool:
| Case | Released | Finishes |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum Case | March 15, 2017 | Chroma |
| Spectrum 2 Case | September 14, 2017 | Chroma |
| Operation Riptide Case | September 21, 2021 | Gamma |
| Dreams & Nightmares Case | January 20, 2022 | Gamma |
The Counter-Strike Wiki notes that Dreams & Nightmares uses the same special items as the Riptide case, and the game files point the two Spectrum cases to one list as well. So any of the four, or a Butterfly, can come out of each of these cases.
Each model therefore has 25 versions: vanilla, the 12 original finishes, six Chroma finishes (Damascus Steel, Doppler, Marble Fade, Rust Coat, Tiger Tooth, Ultraviolet) and six Gamma finishes (Autotronic, Black Laminate, Bright Water, Freehand, Gamma Doppler, Lore). All exist in StatTrak. The same split applies to the Covert trade-ups Valve added in October 2025: Coverts from a launch case lead only to that case's knife, while Coverts from the four later cases can return any of the five. Our Covert trade-up article explains the rules.
The four models
Huntsman Knife
Valve describes a knife "designed for modern tactical uses" with a Tanto point. The Counter-Strike Wiki says it is based on the MTECH USA Xtreme MX-8054. Hotspawn notes that it shares the default knife's animations, so it plays without much flourish. In the game files it is also one of two knives with its own version of the Ultraviolet finish.
Falchion Knife
A modern homage to the falchion sword, with a clip point and a curved edge. The wiki describes two inspects: the usual one spins the knife on the palm, while a rare one balances it upright on the hand for a few seconds. Hotspawn calls its animations unbelievably underrated. The wiki also records that it once deployed slightly faster than other knives, 0.97 seconds against one second, until Valve fixed it in April 2017. Like the Huntsman, it has its own Ultraviolet paint in the game files.
Shadow Daggers
Push daggers which, in Valve's words, make an attack "as simple as throwing a punch or two". Hotspawn notes that the unusual shape makes them unpopular with many players, but that their animations are completely unique and shared with no other knife. According to the wiki, in CS:GO the screen shook when you stabbed with the secondary attack and during the equip animation, a feature removed in CS2. The wiki also notes that Chroma and Gamma copies show the Shadow Collection in their item details.
Bowie Knife
Valve's description calls it a "full-tang sawback Bowie knife" built for brutal survival situations, and the game files refer to it as the survival bowie. The wiki says the model is based on the AITOR Oso Negro, and that references to its textures were removed from the files in July 2014, a sign it was planned two years before release. Hotspawn rates its inspect as one of the most unusual in the game. In CS2, Valve's June 10, 2024 release notes added a left hand to the Bowie Knife's view model.
Float and finish notes
The game's item definitions set the same caps as on the 2013 knives for most finishes, with one notable difference:
| Finish | Huntsman, Falchion | Shadow Daggers, Bowie |
|---|---|---|
| Lore | 0.00 to 0.65 | 0.00 to 1.00 |
| Autotronic | 0.00 to 0.85 | 0.00 to 0.85 |
| Black Laminate | 0.00 to 1.00 | 0.00 to 1.00 |
So a Battle-Scarred Lore on the Shadow Daggers or Bowie can be far more worn than one on the Huntsman or Falchion, and the Butterfly follows the wider range too. Each model also has its own Lore, Autotronic and Black Laminate paint, drawn for that blade.
Elsewhere the windows match other knives. Doppler, Gamma Doppler, Fade, Marble Fade and Tiger Tooth stop at 0.08, so they exist only in Factory New and Minimal Wear. Slaughter runs from 0.01 to 0.26, Freehand to 0.48, Damascus Steel and Bright Water to 0.50, and Rust Coat starts at 0.40, which limits it to Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred.
For phases, see our Doppler phases guide; for how the seed changes Case Hardened, see the blue gem article.
Picking one of the four
All four play identically. The choice is shape and feel: the Huntsman for a tactical Tanto blade with default animations, the Falchion for its balancing inspect, the Shadow Daggers for push daggers with animations no other knife has, and the Bowie for its sawback blade and unusual inspect. On CS2Sell, Buy lets you filter by model, finish, Doppler phase and float to compare them directly.
Sources
- Huntsman Knife — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Falchion Knife — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Shadow Daggers — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Bowie Knife — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Dreams & Nightmares Case — Counter-Strike Wiki
- CS2 Knife Animations - All Knives Explained — Hotspawn
- items_game.txt — GameTracking-CS2 on GitHub
- Release Notes for 6/10/2024 — Counter-Strike 2 news
