New to CS2 and confused about Doppler Phases? Don’t worry—we’ve all been there. Dopplers work a little differently from standard skins, so they’re bound to cause some confusion. This guide will explain, step by step, what Doppler Phases are, what they look like, how much they’re worth, and everything else you need to know! 

Please note that all prices cited in this post are approximate and subject to change over time—Doppler values fluctuate quite a lot, so you may find the actual figures have changed slightly.

Contents

• What Are Doppler Phases in CS2?
• Doppler Phase 1
• Doppler Phase 2
• Doppler Phase 3
• Doppler Phase 4
  • Ruby
  • Sapphire
  • Black Pearl
• Doppler Phases Prices: Phase Value
• Where to Get Doppler Knives

What Are Doppler Phases in CS2? 

The Doppler is a rare skin available for most knife types in Counter-Strike. It has a vibrant marbled finish that mixes red, blue, black, and green in different proportions, so the look of the knife depends largely on the combination of colors. These are called Phases: each phase has different proportions of selected colors from this palette. Some Phases have a mix of three colors, and others use only one. Phases where a single color clearly dominates tend to be more desirable (and more expensive). 

Dopplers come in four “standard” Phases, as well as three extra-rare versions: Ruby, Sapphire, and Black Pearl. Phases 1–4 are Restricted skins, Ruby and Sapphire are Classified, and Black Pearl is of Covert rarity. When unboxing a Doppler, the odds of getting a Phase 1–4 skin are around 90%. 

The only other CS2 skin that features Phases is the Gamma Doppler, which has a narrower color palette focused on shades of green. We have a separate guide to Gamma Doppler Phases in CS2, check it out later!

Anyway, let’s get back on track and go over each Doppler Phase in more detail: 

Doppler Phase 1

Rarity: Restricted | Colors: black/purple, red

Doppler Phase 1 knives are mostly black with a small amount of red mixed in. This combination causes them to appear dark purple in places. Some Phase 1 knives, like the Butterfly Knife, Bowie Knife, or Shadow Daggers, have red elements on the handle and/or guard. 

Phase 1 isn’t the most desirable finish, so it’s usually among the cheapest Dopplers (“cheapest” in this case is a relative term—we’re still talking at least several hundred dollars for most knife types). 

Doppler Phase 2

Rarity: Restricted | Colors: red, black/purple

Doppler Phase 2 also includes black and red, but in different proportions: there is noticeably more red in the mix, resulting in a blend of different shades of purple and pink. Some knives have purple accents on the handle in Phase 2. 

Phase 2 is the most expensive of the Restricted Doppler skins (Phases 1–4), likely because purple Counter-Strike skins tend to be more in-demand than other colors. 

Doppler Phase 3

Rarity: Restricted | Colors: blue, green, black

Doppler Phase 3 adds green to the mix of colors, combining it with black and blue. Some knife types will have green accents on the handle as part of this finish. 

Perhaps it’s because it doesn’t have a dominant color, or maybe green just doesn’t work that well for Dopplers (it’s more of a Gamma Doppler thing), Phase 3 skins are the cheapest of the bunch. 

Doppler Phase 4

Rarity: Restricted | Colors: blue, black

Doppler Phase 4 is mostly blue, with varying amounts of black. It’s a deep, vivid shade of blue that looks pretty impressive in-game. The handles on some knife types will also be deep-blue in Phase 4. 

Thanks to the bright, dominant blue that makes it look almost like a faux Sapphire, Phase 4 is among the more pricey finishes—it tends to be the second-most expensive, after Phase 2.

Ruby

Rarity: Classified | Colors: red

Where Phases 1–4 mixed at least two colors, the Classified Ruby is all-red. Note that this applies to the blade only: unlike the reddish Phase 2, Ruby doesn’t have red elements on the handle of the knife.

Due to their rarity and uniform color, Ruby Dopplers are several times more expensive than their Phase 1–4 equivalents. Prices range from around $800 for the cheapest knives (Gut, Navaja) to several thousand for most other knife types. Karambits and Butterfly Knives with the lowest floats can reach around $15k in this finish. 

Sapphire

Rarity: Classified | Colors: blue

Sapphire is the most expensive Doppler finish for just about every knife. Although it’s not the rarest, its distinctive color makes it by far the most desirable version of this skin. Like Ruby, Sapphire doesn’t add colorful elements to the handle of the knife. 

It’s more expensive than the Ruby, though usually by a few hundred dollars at most. The difference in price is more noticeable with the most expensive knives, like Butterfly (up to and sometimes above $17k) or M9 Bayonet and Karambit ($20k+ for the lowest floats). 

Black Pearl

Rarity: Covert | Colors: black

Doppler Black Pearl is, as the name suggests, black—though it does have red, blue, and purple undertones, so the marbling effect is still visible. 

The only Covert among the Dopplers, Black Pearl is one of the rarest knife skins in CS2, although you won’t have much trouble finding these knives in most online marketplaces. Price-wise, Black Pearls are somewhere between the Ruby and the Sapphire, with price tags ranging from around $1k to $20k depending on the knife type, float, and pattern. 

Doppler Phases Prices: Phase Value

We’ve already touched on the relative value of each Phase, but let’s put it all together for a clearer overview. Here are the Doppler Phases ordered from the cheapest to the most expensive: 

• Phase 3 (cheapest)
• Phase 1
• Phase 4
• Phase 2
• Ruby
• Black Pearl
• Sapphire (most expensive)

The cheapest knives in all Phases are the Gut Knife ($160–$1000+), Navaja Knife ($170–$1300+), and Shadow Daggers ($180–$1700+). The most expensive are the Karambit, M9 Bayonet, and Butterfly Knife, with prices starting at around $1000–$1800 for Phase 1 and often exceeding $15,000–$20,000 on the high end (Sapphire and Black Pearl). 

Of course, there are exceptions to these norms: particularly rare or sought-after skins can cost a lot more than the regular market price, and Phase itself is not the only factor affecting the price. Skins with extremely low float (0.000XXXXX) can cost a lot more than the expected market price for a given Phase, as can skins with particularly desirable pattern indexes (some patterns contain more of a certain color than others.) 

In some cases, especially with Black Pearls, Minimal Wear Dopplers can cost more than Factory New ones. This is because all Doppler skins have a float range of 0.00–0.08. Note that 0.00–0.07 out of that results in FN condition, so only a small proportion will end up as an MW Doppler. And an MW Doppler that also has StatTrak can be an incredibly rare find. 

For example, an FN Falchion Knife | Doppler (Black Pearl) usually costs around $1k–$2k, but the market price of the same skin in MW with StatTrak is around $25k. (Currently, there’s literally one of these listed for sale worldwide.) 

Where to Get Doppler Knives

You can easily find every knife in all Phases (including the rarest Black Pearl) on the Steam Community Market and third-party marketplaces. That’s the easiest way to get them… provided that you have hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars to spend on a CS2 skin. If you do, good for you: buying a Doppler from a listing is the only way to be sure what Phase you’ll get. 

Buying CS2 Cases with a Chance for Doppler Knives

A potentially cheaper, but much less reliable way of getting a Doppler skin is to try to drop it from a case. You can get Doppler skins from the Prisma and Prisma 2 Cases, Spectrum and Spectrum 2, as well as all three Chroma Cases. Note that while the odds of official cases haven’t been confirmed by Valve, it’s well-known that the chances of dropping any knife from one are extremely low (word on the virtual streets is less than 0.03%). It follows that the odds of dropping a Doppler are even lower. And of course, you have no influence over what Phase you’ll get. 

Anyway, if you’re ready to try your luck with opening hundreds of official cases, here’s a breakdown of cases with Dopplers, showing which knife types they contain: 

Knife Type	Prisma Case Prisma 2 Case	Spectrum Case Spectrum 2 Case	Chroma Case Chroma 2 Case Chroma 3 Case
Bayonet			✓
Bowie Knife		✓
Butterfly Knife		✓
Falchion Knife		✓
Flip Knife			✓
Gut Knife			✓
Huntsman Knife		✓
Karambit			✓
M9 Bayonet			✓
Navaja Knife	✓
Shadow Daggers		✓
Stiletto Knife	✓
Talon Knife	✓
Ursus Knife	✓

And if you’re looking for more info on knives and cases, check out our posts on CS2 cases with Butterfly Knives and the best CS2 cases to open. 

Opening Key-Drop Cases with Doppler Knives

Plenty of Key-Drop cases contain Doppler skins, often with much better odds than official CS2 cases. For example, the Vice Case has a 0.534% chance to drop an M9 Bayonet | Doppler, which is one of the most expensive Doppler skins (especially if you really luck out and get a low-float Black Pearl, worth up to $20k.)

To see more Key-Drop cases with Doppler skins, click on the knife type that interests you in the table above—you’ll see the product page of the Doppler skin for that knife, along with a list of Key-Drop cases that can drop it. 

So, now you know everything about Doppler Phases. Good luck with trying to drop your dream knife skin from a case, and have fun on Key-Drop!