All VALORANT butterfly knives ranked.
Image via Riot Games

All VALORANT Butterfly Knife Skins, Ranked

This is bound to be a divisive one.

VALORANT’s butterfly knife skins are among the game’s most popular cosmetics, along with the karambit knife variants. It appeals to a large portion of the VALORANT player base that migrated from Counter-Strike, a lot of whom are used to paying out rather large sums for some fancy-looking pixels that they can spin. VALORANT skins cost a lot less than CS: GO ones, and they arguably look better, which is why I’m ranking every single butterfly knife skin in VALORANT.

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There are only four butterfly knife skins in the game right now, so there’s not too much variety to choose from. Despite that, some are clearly better than others – at least in my opinion. If you disagree with any of these rankings, that’s okay. I won’t hold it against you.

Every Butterfly Skin in VALORANT – Ranked

1 – Champions 2022 VALORANT Butterfly Knife

All VALORANT butterfly knife skins ranked - Champions butterfly knife.
Image via Riot Games

My reasoning for putting the Champions 2022 VALORANT butterfly knife at the top of this list is twofold.

First, it’s the only one of the bunch that’s a timed exclusive. If you didn’t fork over the cash to pick this up during Champs 2022, then you’ll never own it. It’ll never come back to the store – it’s forever lost to us poor unfortunate souls unwilling to splash $60+ for two skins.

Secondly, and more importantly, it really does just look great, doesn’t it? It’s the complete package – the sound design for it is phenomenal, the visual effects change and evolve as you get more kills in a game, and if you’re top fragging with 25+ kills, you’ll pull out the damn Champions 2022 trophy in your off-hand whenever you inspect it.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s all more than enough to justify a top ranking.

2 – RGX 11Z Pro Firefly VALORANT Butterfly Knife

All VALORANT butterfly knife skins ranked - RGX butterfly knife.
Image via Riot Games

Generally speaking, VALORANT players fall into one of two camps. Either they prefer the Recon knife – these tend to be the CS: GO migrants, or they prefer the RGX 11Z Pro. Despite coming from Counter-Strike myself, I admit that I’m a sucker for the RGX skin line.

Who isn’t, though? It’s arguably the most popular VALORANT skin line in existence, and for good reason. Every single weapon from the collection slaps, and none more so than the butterfly knife.

There’s just something so satisfying about watching the RGX change colors mid-animation, leaving behind light trails that are prettier than they have any right to be. Of course, if you prefer something more grounded, then this won’t be your cup of tea. Then again, why are you playing VALORANT if you’re looking for a realistic tactical FPS?

3 – Recon Balisong

All VALORANT butterfly knife skins ranked - Recon knife.
Image via Riot Games

The Recon skin line tends to be fairly decisive in the community. Either you love it, or you hate it. Personally, I love it, hence why my knife of choice is actually the Recon Balisong in-game.

Despite the divisive nature of the Recon skins, pretty much everyone can agree that the butterfly knife looks great. It was the first butterfly knife that we got, and it was delivered on arrival. It’s fairly affordable compared to most of the other top-tier knife skins, too.

The Recon Balisong VALORANT butterfly knife is incredibly simple – but that’s why it’s so popular. It’s a grounded knife that’s still flashy, yet wouldn’t look out of place in CS. I’d argue that most butterfly knives released since its inception are more impressive – but I still use the Recon myself, so that speaks to just how impressive it actually is.

4 – Yoru’s Stylish Butterfly Comb

All VALORANT butterfly knife skins ranked - Yoru's Comb.
Image via Riot Games

I mean, it’s a comb… A bizarre design to be sure, and it doesn’t help that it dropped soon after the Recon yet used the exact same animations.

Yoru’s Stylish Butterfly Comb has everything going against it. First, it’s just not a weapon. Then it has to compete with the Recon before it, and after that, you need to get over the fact that it’s branded with Yoru’s symbol and colors. I despise the orange and blue color scheme, but if you’re a fan of it – then more power to you.

Of course, every single entry on this ranking is subjective. This is all pure opinion – but you’ll struggle to find a player that’ll disagree with this ranking.

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