In August 2018 the Horizon Case brought four knife models at once, the first new knives since the Bowie in 2016. The Talon, Ursus, Stiletto and Navaja share every case they drop from and the same 19 finishes, but they look and move very differently. Here is how they compare.
Four cases, two finish lines
| Case | Released | Knife finishes |
|---|---|---|
| Horizon Case | August 3, 2018 | Original, with Night Stripe |
| Danger Zone Case | December 6, 2018 | Original, with Night Stripe |
| Prisma Case | March 13, 2019 | Chroma |
| Prisma 2 Case | March 31, 2020 | Chroma |
In the game's item files, the Danger Zone Case points to the Horizon Case's knife list and Prisma 2 points to Prisma's, so each pair offers identical knives. Any of the four models can come from any of the four cases, depending on the finish line.
The same split applies to trade-ups, which Valve opened to knives in October 2025. The Coverts from Horizon and Danger Zone (AK-47 | Neon Rider, Desert Eagle | Code Red, AK-47 | Asiimov and AWP | Neo-Noir) lead to the original finishes. Those from the two Prisma cases (M4A4 | The Emperor, Five-SeveN | Angry Mob, M4A1-S | Player Two and Glock-18 | Bullet Queen) lead to the Chroma ones. Our Covert trade-up article explains the rules.
The four models
Talon Knife
Valve's description calls the Talon an "ivory-handled karambit" with brass rivets and saw-tooth ridges, "so it cuts on the way in, and tears on the way out". Its internal name in the game files is weapon_knife_widowmaker. According to Hotspawn it largely shares the Karambit's animations, plus a unique inspect that spins the blade around a finger, which Hotspawn rates above the Karambit's own set. Valve made the Talon's inspect more responsive in an August 26, 2025 update. Our Karambit guide covers the knife it is based on.
Stiletto Knife
An Italian-style switchblade whose spring-loaded blade, in Valve's words, "can be deployed almost instantly with the push of a release catch". Hotspawn describes its animations as light and airy, with an inspect that throws the knife into the air. The same August 2025 update fixed the Stiletto's deploy animation.
Navaja Knife
A folding knife with a marble-enamel handle that, as Valve puts it, "conceals a small but viciously tapered blade". The game files call it weapon_knife_gypsy_jackknife. Hotspawn notes that its animations stay close to the default set, apart from a weighty draw.
Ursus Knife
A tanto-style survival knife with a faceted blade, full tang and impact pommel: "No fuss, no moving parts", in Valve's description. Its draw throws the knife into the air and catches it, and Hotspawn calls that the highlight of the model.
The 19 finishes
Each model has the same set:
- Original (Horizon and Danger Zone): vanilla, Blue Steel, Boreal Forest, Case Hardened, Crimson Web, Fade, Forest DDPAT, Night Stripe, Safari Mesh, Scorched, Slaughter, Stained, Urban Masked.
- Chroma (Prisma and Prisma 2): Damascus Steel, Doppler, Marble Fade, Rust Coat, Tiger Tooth, Ultraviolet.
All 19 come in StatTrak versions. Two things set the set apart from the 2013 knives. Night is replaced by Night Stripe, which the in-game description says is spray-painted "with a tape mask pattern in a night ops color scheme". And no Horizon knife has a Gamma finish, so there is no Gamma Doppler, Lore, Autotronic, Black Laminate, Bright Water or Freehand on any of these four.
Finish details
The Talon has its own paints. The game files list separate Talon versions of Doppler Phase 1 to 4, Marble Fade and Damascus Steel. That means the Finish Catalog number you see when inspecting a Talon Doppler differs from the one on a Karambit in the same phase, so look up the Talon's numbers specifically. Our Doppler phases guide explains how to read a phase.
No Fire & Ice. The Steam Community's Fire & Ice guide lists all four Horizon knives among the models whose Marble Fade cannot form the red-and-blue Fire & Ice layout, which only the Karambit, Bayonet, Flip and Gut can roll.
Float windows. The game's item definitions set these ranges:
| Finish | Float range | Wears that exist |
|---|---|---|
| Doppler, Marble Fade, Tiger Tooth, Fade | 0.00 to 0.08 | Factory New, Minimal Wear |
| Slaughter | 0.01 to 0.26 | Factory New to Field-Tested |
| Damascus Steel | 0.00 to 0.50 | All five |
| Rust Coat | 0.40 to 1.00 | Well-Worn, Battle-Scarred |
| Night Stripe, Crimson Web, Ultraviolet and the camos | 0.06 to 0.80 | All five |
| Case Hardened, Blue Steel, Stained | 0.00 to 1.00 | All five |
Case Hardened works as on other knives: the seed decides how much blue shows, and seeds are specific to each model. Our blue gem article explains why.
Choosing between them
All four play identically, so the decision comes down to shape and animation. Going by Hotspawn's descriptions, the Talon is the pick if you want Karambit-style movement on a different blade, the Stiletto feels lightest, the Ursus has the most eye-catching draw, and the Navaja stays closest to the default knife.
Before buying, open the information panel when you inspect the knife and check the float against the table above, plus the Finish Catalog number if it is a Doppler. On CS2Sell, Buy lets you filter by model, Doppler phase, float and StatTrak.
Sources
- Horizon Case — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Danger Zone Case — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Prisma Case — Counter-Strike Wiki
- Prisma 2 Case — Counter-Strike Wiki
- CS2 Knife Animations - All Knives Explained — Hotspawn
- The Complete Fire & Ice Guide — Steam Community
- items_game.txt — GameTracking-CS2 on GitHub
- Counter-Strike 2 Update, August 26, 2025 — Counter-Strike 2 news
