Can You Trade Up Limited Edition Items in CS2? Yes, and Here's How It Works

Updated November 1, 2026 · Written by Lena Ortiz · Reviewed by Milan Kovac

The Armory's Limited Edition Items are some of the most talked-about skins in CS2, from the Desert Eagle | Heat Treated at launch to the AK-47 | Aphrodite. A common question once you own one, or spot a cheap one on the market: can you put them in a Trade Up Contract, and what comes out?

The short answer is yes. Limited Edition Items aren't locked out of trade-ups. They sit in their own collection, and that collection follows the same 10-for-1 rules as any other. The fun part is that the collection is tiny, which makes the odds unusually simple. This guide explains how it works, what each contract can give you, how float control works here, and the few limits that catch people out.

How we wrote this: we used SkinGrind's Limited Edition Item trade-up page and csgodatabase for the collection's items, the CS wiki for Armory dates and star costs, and Valve's trade-up rules as covered in our main guide, all read on November 1, 2026. Prices quoted are live market snapshots from that day and change constantly. We didn't sign any contracts for this page.

Claim free cases on Clash.gg, no code needed

The short version

• Yes, you can trade up Limited Edition Items. They belong to the "Limited Edition Item" collection.
• The collection has four skins: XM1014 | Solitude (Restricted), Desert Eagle | Heat Treated and M4A1-S | Solitude (Classified), and AK-47 | Aphrodite (Covert).
• 10 XM1014 Solitudes give a 50/50 shot at Heat Treated or M4A1-S Solitude.
• 10 Classified Limited Edition Items always give the AK-47 | Aphrodite.
• No StatTrak Limited Edition Items exist, so all contracts are normal quality.
• No knife trade-up: the Aphrodite can't go into the 5-Covert contract because the collection has no knife or glove pool.

What counts as a Limited Edition Item?

When the Armory launched on October 2, 2024, Valve added a special reward slot. Instead of a random skin, you spend a fixed number of stars on one named item. These are the Limited Edition Items, and so far there have been four, according to the CS wiki:

Valve groups them in a collection simply called "Limited Edition Item". That collection label is what the trade-up system looks at, the same way it looks at "The Cobblestone Collection" or a case collection.

Once an item leaves the Armory, Valve stops handing it out for stars. But the trade-up path stays open, so as long as there are cheaper inputs around, new copies of higher items can still be made. We cover more about the Aphrodite's rotation and wear odds in our AK-47 Aphrodite odds guide.

Quick refresher: how trade-ups work

A standard Trade Up Contract takes 10 skins of the same rarity and gives one skin of the next rarity up. A few rules matter here:

• All inputs must be the same rarity. Ten Restricted, ten Classified and so on.
• StatTrak and normal can't be mixed. Since May 22, 2026, souvenir skins can go in with normal ones, but that doesn't matter for Limited Edition Items.
• The output comes from your inputs' collections. Each input adds a "ticket" for its own collection, and each outcome in that collection shares the tickets equally.
• The output's float comes from your inputs' average float, mapped onto the output skin's float range.

There's also the 5-Covert contract, added on October 22, 2025, which gives a knife or gloves from the collection of one of your inputs. We'll come back to why that doesn't work with the Aphrodite. The full rules, with examples, are in our CS2 trade up contracts guide.

Contract 1: XM1014 Solitude up to Classified

The XM1014 | Solitude is the only Restricted skin in the Limited Edition Item collection, so it's the cheap entry point. Put ten of them in a contract and you get one Classified skin from the same collection.

There are two Classifieds, so each is a 50% chance:

• Desert Eagle | Heat Treated, a case-hardened style pattern skin. Patterns are random, and a few blue-heavy seeds trade for big premiums.
• M4A1-S | Solitude.

When we checked SkinGrind on November 1, 2026, a full set of ten XM1014 Solitudes could be had from about $3.70 in total. Both possible outcomes were valued above that, which is why this contract is popular. But "valued above the input" depends on the wear you hit and on live prices, which shift fast once a contract gets popular. Always check current prices before you buy inputs.

Also remember the Heat Treated pattern is random. Trading up for a specific blue pattern is a lottery, the same as unboxing one.

Contract 2: Classified Limited Edition up to the Aphrodite

This is the big one. The Limited Edition Item collection has only one Covert, the AK-47 | Aphrodite. So if you put ten Classified Limited Edition Items into a contract, whether that's ten Heat Treated, ten M4A1-S Solitude or any mix of the two, the output is an Aphrodite every time.

In other words, the only question is the wear, not the skin. SkinGrind listed a set of ten Classified inputs from about $8.20 on November 1, 2026. The cheapest inputs are usually high-float copies, though, which give you a high-float Aphrodite. Example prices we saw that day: about $205 for Factory New, $21 for Minimal Wear and $12.76 for Field-Tested. A Battle-Scarred result from the cheapest inputs is close to the input cost, so it isn't free money.

Float control on the Aphrodite contract

Trade-up output float follows a simple formula. Each input's float is first normalised against its own skin's float range, those are averaged, and the average is mapped onto the output skin's range. With the Aphrodite's full 0 to 1 range, the output float is basically your inputs' average normalised float.

So if you want a Minimal Wear Aphrodite (0.07 to 0.15), you need inputs that average below 0.15 once normalised, and for Factory New, below 0.07. Low-float Heat Treated and M4A1-S Solitude copies cost more, which is where the real price of a good Aphrodite trade-up sits. Our float value guide explains floats and wear ranges, and our trade-up calculator lets you check the result before you sign.

Mixing Limited Edition with other collections

You don't have to fill a contract with only Limited Edition Items. You can mix them with same-rarity skins from other collections, as long as the rarity and StatTrak status match. The output is then split by share:

• 5 XM1014 Solitude + 5 Restricted from another collection: 50% chance the output comes from the Limited Edition collection (split evenly between Heat Treated and M4A1-S Solitude, so 25% each), and 50% from the other collection, split among its Classifieds.
• 9 Classified LE + 1 Classified from elsewhere: 90% Aphrodite, 10% a Covert from the other collection.

There's one catch. Limited Edition Items have no StatTrak versions, so any mixed contract has to be normal quality. You can't add StatTrak skins from another collection to the same contract.

What you can't do with Limited Edition Items

• No knife or glove trade-up. The 5-Covert contract gives a knife or gloves from the collection of one of your inputs. The Limited Edition Item collection has no knife or glove pool. Trade-up tools like TradeUpX and player reports on r/cs2 say the game won't accept an Aphrodite as an input for that contract. If you want a knife, you'll need Coverts from a case collection; see how to get a knife in CS2.
• No StatTrak contracts. There aren't any StatTrak Limited Edition Items to use.
• No going up from the Aphrodite. It's the top of its collection, and Coverts only go further through the knife contract.
• No picking the Classified. With Solitude inputs, it's a coin flip between Heat Treated and M4A1-S Solitude.
• No getting the Armory back. Trading up doesn't refund stars or bring an item back to the Armory.

Should you trade up Limited Edition Items?

It depends on why you're doing it.

If you want an Aphrodite for your loadout, a trade-up can be cheaper than buying one, especially at higher wears, because the outcome is guaranteed. Just price the inputs against the output at the wear you'll actually get, and include market fees. On the Steam Market, selling fees take roughly 13% off whatever you sell.

If you want profit, be careful. Popular contracts like these get "priced in" fast: the inputs rise until the trade-up barely pays. Profitable windows exist, but they close quickly, and live prices on tracking sites often lag the real market. Factor in Steam's trade protection hold too, which can delay a quick flip.

If you want a gamble, the XM1014 Solitude contract is the cheapest way to roll for a nice Heat Treated pattern. Treat it like opening a case: only spend what you're fine losing. If spending on skins stops being fun, our responsible gambling page lists free help.

Trade-up style games on case sites

Some case sites offer upgraders, which work a bit like a trade-up you control: you put in a skin, pick a target and see the exact percentage chance before you go. Clash.gg's upgrader is one; we review it in our Clash.gg upgrader guide. CSGOEmpire focuses more on trading and its game modes. These sites have a house edge, so think of them as entertainment, not a way to beat the market.

Trade skins on CSGOEmpire, free case with code FREECASES4U

Common mistakes

1. Assuming the Armory exit means no more Aphrodites. New ones can still be made through trade-ups.
2. Buying cheap high-float inputs and expecting a clean output. The output float follows the input floats.
3. Forgetting fees. A contract that looks $2 profitable can be negative after the market's cut.
4. Mixing one stray item from another collection. Even one input from elsewhere gives that collection a 10% share.
5. Trying to use the Aphrodite in a knife contract. It won't work, so don't buy Aphrodites for that.

Bottom line

Yes, you can trade up Limited Edition Items in CS2. They form a tiny four-skin collection, so the contracts are simple: ten XM1014 Solitudes give a 50/50 between Desert Eagle | Heat Treated and M4A1-S | Solitude, and ten Classified Limited Edition Items always give an AK-47 | Aphrodite, with wear set by your input floats. What you can't do is use them in StatTrak contracts or push an Aphrodite into a knife. Check live prices, account for fees, and run the numbers in a calculator before you sign.

Try the Clash.gg upgrader with free cases through our link, no code needed