How do I turn my strategy into a fully systematic, rule-based system with zero discretion?
Hey everyone, I'm trading MNQ futures using a price action based strategy with some SMC/ICT confluences, and it's been working well (have passed multiple evaluations and taken payouts) — but I want to remove all discretion from it entirely. No emotions, no "gut feel", no outside factors. I want it to run like a bot with a strict ruleset.
The strategy:
- Establish a **daily bias** based on higher timeframe market structure (Daily, 4H, 1H) (bullish or bearish)
- Drop to the **1M or 5M chart** and wait for a **Market Structure Shift** in the direction of that bias
- Wait for a **pullback** after the MSS
- **Scale into contracts** during the pullback (average down)
- Target a move **into the daily/HTF bias direction** - Liquidity pools/resistance areas, FVGs, or key HTF levels as TP
SMC/ICT tools I'm already using as confluences: Order Blocks, Fair Value Gaps, Premium/Discount arrays, BSL/SSL liquidity levels.
What I need help with is making this fully mechanical and repeatable:
What are your exact rules for when and where to add contracts during the pullback?** Only at OBs? Only inside FVGs? Fixed intervals? I want predefined levels, not feel.
How do you define invalidation with a hard stop? A specific structural level being violated? A percentage move against you?
What are your exact TP rules? Next liquidity pool? HTF FVG? A fixed R:R like 1:3?
Basically I want my strategy so clearly defined that I could hand it to a developer and have it automated. If you've built something similar or trade a fully rule-based price action system, I'd love to hear exactly how you define each variable. What does your checklist look like?