The first mention of the Tarot is found in 15-century manuscripts from various European regions. These were a kind of playing cards but were also used for telling fortunes since the 18th century. Even today, they are most often associated with divination and mysticism.
So how did these fortune-telling cards come to be associated with our favorite competitive shooter? The credit goes to the Brazilian studio 2minds and the talented artists Zaphk and OniLolz.
First Tarot Collection
The collection was introduced to the community in April 2017. Besides AK-47 The Empress and AWP Mortis, it featured skins for the P90, Dual Berettas, and Desert Eagle.
AK-47 The Empress
It was the Empress that was the first of its kind in the game. Among all the AK-47 skins, it stands out thanks to its abundance of subtle details that are absolutely amazing.
The skin’s intricate gold ornament and purple-and-dark-turquoise background are a harmonious and laconic combination. The fore-end is adorned with royal coats of arms closely related to the Empress Tarot card. The portrait of the Empress herself serves as the center of the entire composition.
Together, these elements create a feeling of true royal luxury in your hands. This work is a finest example of a masterfully designed CS:GO skin. And we’re moving on — this is just the beginning.
AWP Mortis
The next skin addition was AWP Death. The devs renamed it to Mortis and replaced some of the cross patterns with stars.
The skin boasts an equally impressive abundance of details and features two drawings at once. One is located on the buttstock and depicts a figure of death with a bone crown. The other is a horse skull with a golden outline above the trigger. This skin used to be tagged “the budget Dragon Lore”. However, its dark brown palette looked too gloomy, preventing the item from becoming an iconic hit and gaining popularity comparable with that of AK-47 Empress. Nevertheless, it’s still popular with players who only aim at winning.
Second Tarot Collection
Elated by the success of the Empress, the artists from 2minds continued their work and introduced a second collection of Tarot card-based skins in March 2018. It only includes 3 skins, but they were all refined down to every detail, in the best tradition of the series.
M4A4 The Emperor
To date, only M4A4 The Emperor has been officially added to the game. But we still hope that MAC-10 The Star won’t have to collect dust in the Workshop for too long. The designers did their best to make M4A4 The Emperor vibrant yet sophisticated and refined. And did they do their job perfectly! There are even more small details, the colors are even brighter, and the ornaments have become even more complex. At the same time, the skin has remained incredibly stylish without becoming overloaded.
Third Tarot Collection
Finally, in the fall of 2019, the studio presented the community with a third Tarot collection. This time, the guys created as many as five skins for firearms and one skin for the Karambit knife, in three different colors.
The skins for the MP7, Negev, CZ75-Auto, and MAG-7 represent a slightly different take on the Tarot series. In particular, AK-47 Death was a reincarnation of the Mortis skin in a brighter and more stylish design. All skins are still characterized by an incredible level of detail.
MAG-7 Justice
Among the skins of the third collection, the devs picked out MAG-7 Justice. It repeats the color scheme and pattern style of the Emperor but offers a new vision of the central image. The creature is depicted in an abstract and laconic style, with only a black-and-gold silhouette with a shining sun in the chest visible to us.
USP-S The Traitor
USP-S The Hanged Man, renamed Traitor, is the most recent collection skin added to the game. One glance at USP-S The Traitor is enough to understand who the author of this skin is.
By the way, if you are surprised by the different name in the Steam Workshop and the game itself, then here’s a cool fact for you. In the Workshop, the skin is called the Hanged Man. This kind of punishment was very popular in Italy and was applied just to the traitors. So the name change from Valve hit the bull’s eye.
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The Empress Collection
There’s also a small collection inspired by the successful skin Empress which has the same name. It consists of 6 skins that can boast an expressive composition and elaborate details — the studio’s signature style.
Why the Tarot collection is worth your while
In their works, 2minds, Zaphk, and OniLolz showed a technical mastery, a sense of style and a willingness for creative experimentation. Thanks to that, we can enjoy the incredibly beautiful skins from the Tarot collection in-game. Supporting works of this kind shows the devs how much we love such skins, providing artists and designers with further motivation to add more great designs to the Workshop.
