Some Counter-Strike collaborations begin with a campaign. This one began with a simple idea: create something personal for karrigan that connected him, Counter-Strike, and Skin.Club in one physical object.
The result was a custom pair of Air Jordan Mids inspired by the M4A1-S | Black Lotus, filled with personal references and hand-painted by Counter-Strike community artist DUEL_x_TOXIC. But the final pair looked very different from the first sketches.
Why We Chose DUEL_x_TOXIC
We had contacted DUEL_x_TOXIC before the project fully took shape because his work immediately stood out to us. He had already been adapting recognizable Counter-Strike skin patterns to custom sneakers, turning in-game designs into real physical objects. That was exactly the direction we wanted.
At first, even the sneaker model had not been decided. Air Force 1s were discussed, but the choice eventually shifted to Air Jordan Mids. Their construction offered more space for detailed artwork and made it easier to divide the design between different parts of the shoe.
The First Design Looked Completely Different
The first concepts were much more direct. They included karrigan himself, his number 22, Danish references, his signature, Skin.Club branding, a Batman reference, and a purple-and-gold color palette. At one point, his portrait was supposed to become the main visual element. But the concept felt more like a tribute to karrigan than something truly connected to Counter-Strike. So we changed direction.
Instead of building the design around his portrait, we decided to use an existing CS skin as the foundation and add personal details on top of it. The two main options were M4A1-S | Black Lotus and AK-47 | Neon Rider. Black Lotus eventually won thanks to its black, purple, and pink palette, which also worked naturally with Skin.Club’s visual identity.
How Black Lotus Took Over the Jordans
The skin could not simply be copied onto the sneakers. The artwork had to be adapted to completely different shapes, panels, and proportions. The Jordans were prepared for painting, individual sections were masked, and the Black Lotus pattern was gradually built through airbrushing and hand-painted details. The production materials show the transformation particularly well, as ordinary dark Jordans slowly become a recognizable Black Lotus-inspired pair. Once the main pattern was in place, the personal elements returned: karrigan’s signature, number 22, Skin.Club branding, Danish references, and the Batman detail. Not all of them survived unchanged.
Some Ideas Worked, Others Didn’t
One of the main ideas was to avoid making both sneakers exact copies of each other. Instead, different details could be distributed across the pair. A signature could appear on one shoe, Skin.Club branding on the other, while the number 22 and other references could be placed around the rear sections.
Finding a good place for the Skin.Club logo also took several attempts. Some positions made the design feel too crowded, so the branding was eventually moved into areas that did not compete with the Black Lotus artwork.
The Danish flag was another example of how the design changed during production. It worked in the early concept, but once tested on the physical pair, its bright red color clashed too strongly with the black, purple, and pink palette. The literal flag was eventually removed.
The Batman reference had the opposite fate. It survived several iterations and remained as a smaller personal detail connected directly to karrigan.
There were also ideas that never made the final version, including a custom shoe case inspired by Counter-Strike cases and experimental glowing or light-reactive details. The project kept evolving instead of simply following one approved mockup.
Why We Made Two Pairs
In the end, two pairs of the Black Lotus Jordans were created. One was made specifically for karrigan and sent directly to him. He kept the pair and, according to what we heard, even wore them. The second pair had a different future. Karrigan signed it himself, opening the door for the project to take on another form. Importantly, the giveaway was never the original reason for creating the sneakers. The project started as a personal gift for karrigan and only later became something the wider community could be part of.
How the Second Pair Became a Giveaway
That signed second pair is now part of a Skin.Club community giveaway. What began as a personal idea went through different sneaker models, portrait concepts, two Counter-Strike skins, abandoned elements, and multiple changes during the painting process before becoming the final Black Lotus design. One pair stayed with karrigan. The other came back with his signature. And now it can end up with someone from the community.
