The best thing about the knives in Counter-Strike 2 that cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars is the cool animations that come along with them. Here, we will be sharing our favorite ones.
Knife skins are some of the most expensive weapon skins you can get in Counter-Strike 2, and a decent-looking one will set you back a few hundred dollars, and the best ones cost upwards of a thousand dollars. But with these expensive knives, not only will you get nicer-looking finishes, but you will also get different knives with unique animations.
With most other weapon skins being just a recolor of the original weapon, for knife skins, you can get different knives rather than the starting T and CT knives. These new knives come with their own looks, view models, and animations. There are 19 knives released in the game outside of the default ones, and each has different and unique animations. Although some knives, for example, the Gut knife and Huntsman knife, have the same animations, the knife itself is different. It offers a far different experience, even with the same animations.
The main animations that come with these new knives are the equip animation, or how the player model takes out the knife when you switch to it, and the inspect animation, which can be viewed with the inspect action. The last ones are the primary and secondary attack animations, but they aren’t commonly seen because you won’t usually be getting that many chances to kill enemies with the knife, so those won’t be talked about much in this article. Also, Valve has included secret equip and inspect animations that look cooler than their default counterparts with some knives.
Read More: Best Knife Skins in Counter-Strike
20 Best Knife Animations in Counter-Strike 2
Valve has released multiple unique knife skins with hundreds of finishes, and here, we will be ranking them based on their looks along with their animations. The main animations we will prioritize are the equip and inspect animations since you will be seeing them most of the time.
Also, some knives, like the skeleton and falchion come with “secret” animations that feature completely different animations while inspecting and equipping. But they are random, and you cannot always get them consistently with all knives.
20. Default T and CT Knives
The default CT and T knives are what everyone starts with, and they feature very basic equip and inspect animations and are nothing noteworthy.
- Equip Animation: 4/10
- Inspect Animation: 4/10
19. Navaja Knife
The Barber’s shear, the Navaja knife can be considered a straight upgrade from the default knife, but not much else. The design on the knife is a bit unique, but that’s all it has going for it.
- Equip Animation: 5/10
- Inspect Animation: 4/10
18. Gut Knife
The equip animation for the gut knife is decent enough but the shape of the knife as well as the inspect animation is basic at best.
- Equip Animation: 6/10
- Inspect Animation: 4/10
17. Survival Knife
The Survival knife looks like a heavy-duty modern knife with slightly altered equipment and inspect animations. This knife also has a secret inspect animation, which is so subtle most people might not even notice it in-game.
- Equip Animation: 6/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10
16. Nomad Knife
The Nomad Knife is one of the newer knives in CS2 with a modern look. The equip animation is the knife is flipped out by the blade with the off-hand before getting placed in the main hand. This animation is pretty unique, as well as it features a secret animation where the off-hand ends up getting pricked by the blade. The inspect animation is the default one, with the secret inspect being a slightly modified version.
- Equip Animation: 5/10 (Default) 7/10 (Secret)
- Inspect Animation: 6/10 (Default) 6.5/10 (Secret)
15. Paracord Knife
The Paracord knife is one of the cooler-looking knives on this list, and it features a slick blade wrapped by a paracord, as the name suggests. The default equip and inspect animations are okay, but the secret ones are special. The secret equip features the knife being thrown from the off-hand to the main, and the secret inspect animation features it being tossed around sideways in the main hand.
- Equip Animation: 6/10 (Default) 7.5/10 (Secret)
- Inspect Animation: 6/10 (Default) 6.5 (Secret)
14. Stiletto Knife
The stiletto knife can have an underwhelming look among the newer knives, but the flip-out animation is something unique.
- Equip Animation: 7.5/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10
13. Ursus Knife
The Ursus knife can be both underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time. The default inspect and equip animations are barely better than the Default knife animations. But this knife has tricks up its sleeve. The secret equip animation is eye-catching, where the knife spins vertically and is caught mid-air. The secret inspect animation is also unique, where the knife is rotated vertically by the fingers.
- Equip Animation: 6/10 (Default) 9/10 (Secret)
- Inspect Animation: 5/10 (Default) 7.5/10 (Secret)
12. Falchion Knife
The falchion knife is one of the older knives in Counter-Strike. At first look, it looks pretty bland. As far as animations go, it does have its redeeming qualities. The equip animation is nothing to write home about, but it gets interesting when you look at the inspect animations. The default inspect rotates the knife in the hand 360 degrees. Also, this knife was one of the first ones to have a secret animation where the entire knife is balanced on the palm of the hand, which is still one of the best ones released so far.
- Equip Animation: 6/10
- Inspect Animation: 8/10 (Default) 10/10 (Secret)
11. Bowie Knife
The Bowie knife is the biggest knife in the game, so much so that there is only room for the main hand on the screen. It features a spin-out animation that looks even better on the gigantic knife. This is also one of the few knives with a cool inspect animation held in a reverse grip.
- Equip Animation: 7/10
- Inspect Animation: 7/10
10. Flip knife
The Flip knife is one of the better-looking knives while not breaking the bank. As the name suggests, the simple yet elegant flip-out animation is a great middle-ground between unique and still grounded.
- Equip Animation: 7.5/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10
9. Huntsman Knife
The animation on the Hunstman knife is the same as the Gut knife. The Huntsman knife is an absolute unit of a knife, and paired with the cool spinning equip animation.
- Equip Animation: 8/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10
8. Classic Knife
Ah, nostalgia. The Classic knife. It has been around for generations starting from CS 1.6 and being present in Counter-Strike: Source. With the CS20 Case update, this knife was reintroduced in CS:GO. It features the iconic reverse spin-out animation that the OG Counter-Strike players all know and love. Aside from the default inspect animation, it also has a cooler secret animation. Like the older games, this knife also features the idle animation where the knife is held in the main hand while the blade is held in the other.
- Equip Animation: 8/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10 (Default) 8/10 (Secret)
7. Shadow Daggers
The Shadow Daggers have been the “butt” of most of the community memes. Jokes aside, the Shadow daggers are the only two-handed melee weapon released so far. This is also the only knife with a notable attack animation.
- Equip Animation: 6/10
- Inspect Animation: 7/10
6. Skeleton Knife
Among the newer knives, the skeleton knife was the most popular because of its sleek appearance, befitting a Ninja, and its animations. The default equip and inspect animations look good, but wait till you see the secret animations. Although a bit harder to get, the secret equip animation of the skeleton knife is by far one of the coolest in the game where the knife spins around the thumb. The secret inspect animation also looks really good where the knife is spun around the index finger.
- Equip Animation: 7/10 (Default) 10/10 (Secret)
- Inspect Animation: 7/10 (Default) 8.5/10 (Secret)
5. Bayonet
The Bayonet is a somewhat plain-looking knife, but it’s better than most other knives on our list because of its equip animation. Featuring our favorite equip animation of them all, the knife is equipped by spinning it on the outside of the main hand, which seems to defy all the laws of physics.
- Equip Animation: 10/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10
4. Talon Knife
The younger brother to the Karambit, the Talon knife still manages to hold its own when it comes to animations. For the equip animation, the knife is flicked out and back in the hand, which looks better than most of the knives here. The inspect animation is also unique like the Karambit, but what sets the Talon knife apart is when the inspect key is spammed repeatedly, the knife is spun really fast around its ring, making it one of the most fun inspect animations in the game. The best thing about this is that this animation can be reproduced consistently.
- Inspect Animation: 10/10
- Equip Animation: 7/10
3. M9 Bayonet
The big brother to the Bayonet, the M9 has serrated edges and a more oversized handle. In its equip animation, it is unholstered with the handle facing up, and while it is being taken out, it spins in hand and finally lands with the blade facing up, which looks fantastic.
- Equip Animation: 8/10
- Inspect Animation: 5/10
2. Karambit
The Karambit has one of the most iconic equip animations in CS2 with its unique look and reverse grip that makes it stand out from almost all the other knives in the game. For the equip animation, the knife is spun around in the signature reverse grip with the index finger in the ring, and it is also spun around said ring in a buttery smooth motion during its inspect animation.
This knife is an AWPer’s dream knife because of how smooth the animations look in between landing those sick one-shot, one-kills.
- Equip Animation: 10/10
- Inspect Animation: 8/10
1. Butterfly Knife
The Butterfly knife has been widely popular because of its incredible and unique tricks and flips in real life. In the game, the animations are unique and the rarity of the knife makes it the jewel of a lot of inventories. This knife also has a secondary inspect animation and three different inspect animations.
- Equip Animation: 10/10
- Inspect Animation: 10/10
Read More: The Best Cheap Knives in Counter-Strike 2
So this concludes our list ranking the best knife animations in CS2. With the release of the new game, there are definite plans by Valve to introduce new weapons in the game. Maybe a few new knives can sneak in alongside those updates!
