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Breaker block entry rules: a step-by-step guide

Learn the breaker block entry rules step by step: the sweep, the failed block, the retest, the stop and the target. A plain-English ICT guide.

2026-11-12 · 4 min read · by the ICC Charts team (how we write)

A breaker block is an order block that failed. Price used to respect it, then broke through it, and now the same zone can act the other way. Many traders know the definition but are unsure when to actually enter. This guide gives a clear set of steps.

If you are new to the zone itself, start with order blocks and breaker blocks. Here we focus on the entry.

What makes a breaker?

A bullish order block is the last down candle before a strong move up. A bearish order block is the last up candle before a strong move down. When price later closes through that block, the block has failed. The zone is then called a breaker, and the roles flip:

This is the same flip idea as in the inversion fair value gap, applied to a block instead of a gap.

The entry rules, step by step

1. Start with a bias

Check the larger direction first. A bullish breaker is much more useful when the daily bias is up and price sits in discount.

2. Look for a liquidity sweep

The breaker is best when it forms after price takes liquidity. For a bullish setup, price sweeps below a previous low or a set of equal lows. The sweep is what makes the failed block meaningful: the market has just taken the stops it needed.

3. Wait for the shift

After the sweep, price should break the other way with a strong candle and shift the structure. This is a market structure shift. In the move, price closes through an order block on the way. That block is now your breaker.

4. Mark the breaker zone

Mark the whole body-to-wick area of the failed block. Many traders also draw the middle of it. If a fair value gap sits inside or touches the zone, the area is stronger. That overlap is the Unicorn idea.

5. Wait for the retest

Do not chase the break. Wait for price to pull back into the breaker. This pullback is your entry area. If price never comes back, you simply miss the trade. That is normal.

6. Look for a reaction

Inside the zone, watch for a reaction candle or a small shift on a lower timeframe. Entering with a limit order at the zone is possible, but waiting for a reaction cuts the number of trades that simply slice through.

7. Place the stop

The stop goes beyond the breaker, on the far side from your entry. For a bullish breaker, put it just below the zone, or below the sweep low if you want a wider and safer reading. If price closes beyond the stop, the idea is wrong.

8. Set the target in advance

Targets are the next pools of liquidity: a previous high, equal highs, or a level from the draw on liquidity. Check that the distance to the target is bigger than the distance to the stop. If it is not, skip the trade.

A simple example

These numbers are made up. Bias is bullish. Price sweeps a low at 1.0750. A bearish order block sits at 1.0775 to 1.0785, and price closes through it at 1.0795 on the way up, making the shift.

  1. The block 1.0775 to 1.0785 is now a bullish breaker.
  2. Price pulls back and touches 1.0783, inside the zone.
  3. A bullish reaction candle forms. You enter.
  4. The stop goes below the zone, for example at 1.0770. The target is a previous high at 1.0850.
  5. Risk is 13 pips and the reward is 67 pips, so the trade is worth considering. If price closes under 1.0770, you take the small loss.

When to skip it

Practise it

Open the ICC Charts terminal, switch on the Order Blocks layer, which draws breakers and mitigation blocks, and the Market Structure layer. Scroll back and mark every breaker that followed a sweep. The models page describes the Breaker Model (M12) and Unicorn (M7) in the scanner. Practise on the Chart Challenge too, and keep a journal as shown in the backtest guide.

Education only. ICC Charts is not affiliated with Inner Circle Trader (Michael J. Huddleston); these ideas are explained in our own words. No zone works every time. Trading involves risk; practise on a demo account first.

Try it on a live chart

Open ICC Charts in your browser, free, with the ICT and VSA layers and the model scanner. Or practise on past charts in the free Chart Challenge game.

Open it on the chart → Play the chart game

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