WORK IN PROGRESS!
This guide is a work in progress, and we have gone through and categorized about 25% of all patterns as of July 14, 2025. We are working to go through all of the patterns and categorize them.

INTRODUCTION

I noticed there was no guide for Imperial Plaid Gloves, and it is obvious that some patterns look better than others. So, this is a guide for Imperial Plaid Gloves. I will keep it short and sweet while making sure to explain why each pattern is ranked as it is.

The criteria used to rank the different Imperial Plaid patterns are: the centering of the squares on each hand, the height the squares sit at, the center line alignment of the squares with the middle knuckle, and the wear of the pattern index. The goal is to have a pattern that is as symmetrical as possible, with the only difference being that the colors from one glove to the other are inverted.

Side Note: It is not possible for both hands to each have a dark purple square / light purple square that is centered and symmetrical. None of the tier 1 patterns that have been identified are perfectly symmetrical down to the pixel besides pattern #290, but all tier 1 patterns are significant upgrades over tiers 1.5-4.

THE PATTERNS

There are 5 different types of Imperial Plaids.

Tier 1s: These gloves have a centered square on each glove and are symmetrical in both the height of the square and positioning. The right hand has a dark purple square, with the left hand having a lighter purple square aligned with the middle knuckle on both gloves. The more symmetrical and centered the pattern appears, the better. Along with this is the unique scratch pattern of the gloves, which some wear better than others. This all contributes to the price and rarity of the gloves and which rank I given them.

What ultimately defines the tier 1 patterns is that the left glove is the logical inverse of the right glove, and is aligned, centered, and symmetrical. The better ranked tier 1s will have their squares both centered and sitting higher up on the glove than the lower ranked ones, while not being cut off in any way.

#1 Pattern 290: This pattern has two perfectly centered squares aligned with the middle knuckle similar to patterns 182 and 548. This pattern has a better scratch pattern than the #4-7 patterns. The left and right gloves are pretty much perfect inverse copies of each other, making it the arguably the best pattern. What also makes it better almost all the other tier one patterns is that there is no distinguishable offset from the middle knuckle, whereas the #2 and #3 patterns have a discernable middle knuckle offsets upon close inspection. The only downside to this specific pattern is that the squares sit a little lower on the glove compared to patterns #2 and #3.

#2 Pattern 658: This pattern has two centered squares, aligned with the middle knuckle, and has a better scratch pattern than the #4-7 patterns. This makes it tied for the second best known pattern at this time.

#3 Pattern 52: This pattern has two centered squares, aligned with the middle knuckle, and has a better scratch pattern than the #4-7 patterns. This makes it tied for the second best known pattern at this time.

Patterns ranked 1-3 are all of the highest quality, with pattern 290 being the most symmetrical. The decision of which to get from this group truly is up to personal preference and what you can afford.

#4 Pattern 515: This pattern has two centered squares, aligned with the middle knuckle, but has a worse scratch pattern than the top 3 patterns. Unfortunately, this pattern has a bad scratch pattern making it still show noticeable scratching even in low float ft or high float mw conditions.

#5 Pattern 182: This pattern has two centered squares, aligned with the middle knuckle, but has a worse scratch pattern than the top 3 patterns. This pattern has exceptional alignment with the middle knuckle.

#6 Pattern 162: This pattern has two centered squares, aligned with the middle knuckle, but has a worse scratch pattern than the top 3 patterns.

#7 Pattern 6: This pattern has two centered squares, aligned with the middle knuckle, but has a worse scratch pattern than the top 3 patterns.

Patterns ranked #4-#7 all look very similar at low floats, so whichever you would like to buy is up to personal preference. The #1-#3 rank patterns are the exception in that they are symmetrical in almost every way, and have great scratch patterns to boot.

#8 Pattern 264: This pattern has two squares that are aligned with the middle knuckle and are symmetrical, but the squares sit even lower on the glove, making them worse than the first eight patterns. This makes it the 8th best known pattern at this time.

Interesting Fact: The approximate odds of getting tier 1 fn imperial plaids when opening a case, based on there being 9 known tier 1 patterns for imperial plaids, is approximately 1 in 22,615,149.
(1/385 chance for gold)(9/1000 chance for tier 1)(131/29014 chance for fn)(1/24 chance for imperial plaids)

Tier 1.5s: This pattern has two variants. All tier 1.5s should have fully visible squares on each hand that are minimally cut off, if at all. One square should be approximately centered while the other is offset up/down or left/right.

Variant 1: Two squares that are aligned with the middle knuckle and are fully visible, but the squares are not at the same height on the glove as one either sits slightly lower or higher than the other square. A good example of this pattern are patterns 764, and 900.

Variant 2: Two squares aligned at the same level and fully visible, but at least one of the squares is offset from the middle knuckle in a noticeable way such that they are not symmetrical. A good example of this pattern is pattern 679.

While this difference is minimal, it is certainly noticeable, making them worse than all tier 1s but better than the other tiers in most cases.

Tier 2s: These gloves have a centered right hand that is aligned with the middle knuckle, with the left hand being off-centered / not aligned in the middle knuckle of the glove. A good example of this pattern is pattern 441.

Tier 3s: These gloves have a centered left hand that is aligned with the middle knuckle, with the right hand being off-centered / not aligned in the middle knuckle of the glove. A good example of this pattern is pattern 838.

Tier 4s: These gloves have neither a centered right hand nor a centered left hand, making them the worst patterns available. The squares on each hand are often not aligned with the middle knuckle. A good example of this pattern is pattern 360.

IN CONCLUSION

Although there has been no guide for imperial plaids up until this point, I would argue that this skin is certainly one that could benefit from acknowledging the different patterns it has to offer. It is clear that the tier one patterns are significant upgrades from the rest of the patterns, and I would even argue that low float ft or better tier ones might even be more appealing than factory new tier fours. Although factory new will always be desirable due to the rarity alone, it would be a hard point to argue that a set of factory new tier 4 imperial plaids really look better than a nice set of tier 1s.

This guide will be updated as new patterns are discovered, tiers 2-4 are quite common, with tier 1 being the rarest by far with very few existing, and with only 1 fn version of any tier one pattern identified (162). Please comment patterns and they will be added or any new discoveries.