A filler skin in a CS2 trade-up is a low-cost skin used to complete the rest of the 10 skins needed for the contract. These skins don’t affect the outcome much and are usually chosen to reduce the total cost while still giving a chance at the desired result. Fillers are especially useful when you're targeting a specific skin and need to keep the odds and budget balanced.
When picking a filler skin you should consider these properties:
When picking a filler skin, it's smart to look for ones that only trade up into a few potential skins in the next tier. The fewer outcomes there are, the easier it is to control the result of your trade-up. For example, some industrial-grade skins may only lead to one or two possible mil-spec skins, making them perfect for narrowing down your trade-up chances. This makes the trade-up more predictable, especially when combined with target skins from a specific collection.
The main job of a filler skin is to keep your trade-up affordable, so it should cost as little as possible while still meeting your float and collection requirements. Often, older collections or less popular skins will be much cheaper and still do the job just as well. The lower the cost of your fillers, the more attempts you can afford overall, which is important when trying to hit profitable trade-ups.
Float matters in trade-ups because it affects the outcome's wear. Skins with a small float range—especially ones that start and end at low values—are ideal as fillers. These allow you to better control the average float of the entire contract, which is crucial when aiming for Factory New or Minimal Wear results.