CSGO: Katowice 2014 Stickers Explained

CSGO has the largest in-game market system in the world, having players deposit thousands of dollars on regular occurrences to purchase in-game items. Most competitive and regular enjoyers of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have fallen victim to microtransactions, whether purchasing cases or buying a favorable skin.

However, the most expensive microtransactions within CSGO are stickers, specifically Katowice 2014 stickers. For those who don't know, players can purchase stickers for fiat currency and place them on their weapons, acting as decorations. These stickers are either aesthetic or are logos, signatures, or brand images of professional Counter-Strike teams and players. 

The expensive Katowice 2014 stickers are divided into the "EMS Katowice 2014 Legends" and "EMS Katowice 2014 Challengers" capsules. These sticker containers obtain the most expensive virtual stickers inside, with some of the stickers valuing more than $75,000 brand new. The sticker capsules are now valued at $20,000 each, meaning even to have a chance to open a sticker, you have to purchase either the Challengers or Legends sticker capsule, costing you a total of $20,000! 

Why all the hype, though? In this article, we'll explain why these stickers are so expensive. 

CSGO: Katowice 2014 Stickers Background

The Katowice 2014 Stickers were just another typical release of CSGO competition-based Esport stickers, showcasing both the challengers and legends league teams for the EMS Katowice event in 2014. As you can see in the image above, we have Dignitas, Fnatic, Complexity, and other familiar team logos. However, there was something special about the design and feel of these stickers. The stickers showcase raw CSGO history, design, and beauty.

CSGO influencer McSkillet quickly picked up on the sticker's exceptional look and took his opinions to YouTube. Being of the key catalysts behind the notable rise in popularity of these stickers can be attributed to this influencer. Regrettably, McSkillet's popularity has become widely familiar; for those unaware, a simple Google search of the name would suffice to find out background information on the McSkillet story.

Beyond the McSkillet narrative, it is important not to overlook the apparent benefits he had upon the realm of CSGO during his time as a YouTube influencer. Around 2016-2017, McSkillet was the most prominent CS:GO skin YouTuber – arguably achieving a status second only to Anomaly, who stands as the most iconic CSGO content creator. The McSkillet name itself remains etched in the recollections of the CSGO skin community.

Overall, McSkillet shed considerable light on both the EMS Challengers and Legends sticker capsules, unveiling their contents through videos, consequently subjecting them to substantial exposure, popularity, and hype and starting the drive that pushed the stickers to where they are today. Gradually yet inevitably, these stickers exploded the community's consciousness, sparking interest and desire among enthusiasts and, later on, more casual players. 

After the conclusion of the McSkillet era of Counter-Strike, players naturally continued taking an interest in the Katowice Legends and Challengers capsules, opening them more and more, raising the price, and lowering the supply slowly but surely. As time has progressed, YouTubers, skin enthusiasts, personalities, and the general CSGO population have continued to grow the Katowice 2014 hype snowballing through the years. 

CSGO: Katowice 2014 - China and Fame 

Many players have questioned the extortionate price rampage in CSGO skins over the last few years, and the simple answer to explain these changes in price is that Chinese fans love skins. In September 2017, China was given access to CSGO, and ever since, wealthy Chinese collectors have begun taking an extreme interest in rare and desirable skins, buying and building their inventories to the hundreds of thousands.

Once Chinese players and collectors started purchasing skins on larger scales, the prices began to rise significantly, explaining the crazy ramp in prices over the last six years on CSGO. Due to the rising hype of the stickers over the last few years, players have received desires to purchase skins that have already applied Katowice 2014 stickers on them for above market value. This brought Buff.163, a pip.

Once the years started clocking by, the supply of EMS Katowice 2014 capsules and stickers exploded, going from $1 stickers to $500, then doubling in price repetitively every time the supply of the capsules halved. This created even more hype, with YouTubers creating "unboxing" videos of these capsules because they were so much money, lowering the stock even further than before. This process of "Collectors, YouTubers, Investments, Sticker Crafts" has been repeated for nine years, bringing the supply to a minimum with approximately one-hundred capsules remaining from 2014, causing the crazy price of $20,000 per capsule. 

CSGO Katowice 2014 Guide: How to Value your skin 

With rising prices, players are going to want to know how to value their skins that contain Katowice 2014 stickers on them, whether that be an AWP Gungnir with four titan holos or a simple P250 Sand Dune with a scratched paper Dignitas Katowice 2014. There are several aspects to take into account when pricing and valuing your skin:

• How many Katowice 2014 stickers are on the weapon?
• What positions are the sticker in?
• Are the Katowice 2014 stickers holographic or paper, or both?
• What's the price of the vanilla skin without the sticker?
• How many similar sticker crafts have been made with your skin?
• How recently was the skin released - older or newer?
• What is the float value of the skin
• What specific Katowice 2014 sticker is placed on the weapon 

These are all influencing factors when trying to find out the value of your Katowice 2014 weapon craft or one you're buying. However, to get a rough minimum estimate before adding those external factors bullet-pointed, follow this formula:

1. Search for your skin with the same craft on buff163 
2. Find the cheapest craft replicating your same skin 
3. Check the float and compare it to yours 
4. Price accordingly with correlation to float 

For example, if you have an AWP Redline with an iBUYPOWER HOLO on the scope and someone is selling theirs for 6000RMB but is floating 0.35, and yours is floating 0.15, you can sell yours for a much higher price, around the 7500RMB-8500RMB mark, never sell for more than someone that has a lower float weapon than yours!

If you have multiple stickers on one weapon: look for the same weapon skins with individual stickers in the same location as yours. For example, you have an AK-47 Redline with an iBUYPOWER holo on the best position and REASON holo on the worst position. Look for an AK-47 Redline with an individual iBUYPOWER holo on the best position, write down its price, and repeat the same for a single REASON holo on the worst position. Once collecting both prices, add them together and ensure that the float of the weapons you checked is similar to yours. This will give you an estimated price for the weapon you're trying to sell. 

Where can I sell my Katowice 2014 sticker craft?

Please don't sell these sticker crafts or stickers on the Valve Steam Community Market. They will be undervalued both in price and respect. Instead, head to third-party websites to commence trading or selling your Katowice 2014 stickers/weapons. There is only one singular recommendation I personally have for selling and trading high-value items, BUFF.163.COM. This site is excellent, and I recommend it to everyone. It's widely used by the deeper CSGO skin community and all CSGO YouTubers and influencers. Additionally, it's probably your safest bet to buy and sell reasonably priced Katowice 2014 stickers.