The ICT 2022 Model: A Step-by-Step Intraday Trading Routine

Many ICT concepts are tools: a gap, a sweep, a time window. The ICT 2022 model is a routine that puts those tools in order. It became widely known after ICT shared it publicly in 2022, and many traders now use it as a base intraday checklist. Its value is that each step either passes or fails, which leaves less room for impulsive trades.

This lesson walks through the model one step at a time and then applies it to a full EUR/USD example, including position sizing.

What it is

The model is a sequence of six steps:

1. Higher-timeframe draw. Decide where price is likely heading on the daily or H4 chart, such as a previous day's high or an untested fair value gap.
2. Wait for a sweep in a kill zone. During the London (02:00–05:00 ET) or New York AM (07:00–10:00 ET) kill zone, let price run liquidity on the side opposite to your draw.
3. Displacement and market structure shift. After the sweep, price must move away with energy and break a recent swing in the direction of your draw. This displacement and MSS usually leaves a fair value gap.
4. Enter on the retrace. Place a limit order inside the gap, often at its edge or its 50% level.
5. Stop beyond the sweep. The sweep extreme is where the idea is proven wrong.
6. Target opposing liquidity. Aim for the next obvious pool in the direction of the draw.

How to identify it

Use this as a pre-trade checklist. If any line is a "no", there is no trade.

1. Is there a clear higher-timeframe draw on liquidity?
2. Is price in the right half of the range (discount for buys, premium for sells)?
3. Are we inside a kill zone, in New York time?
4. Has price swept a visible pool (session low, equal lows, previous day low for a buy)?
5. Did a displacement break structure toward the draw?
6. Did that displacement leave a fair value gap?
7. Does the stop beyond the sweep and the target at opposing liquidity give at least the minimum risk-reward you accept?

Worked example: EUR/USD long

All prices are illustrative.

Step 1: draw. The previous day's high on EUR/USD is 1.0912, with untouched equal highs just below it. Price is in the lower half of the daily range, so the draw is upward.

Step 2: sweep. London builds a low at 1.0868. At 08:20 ET, inside the New York AM kill zone, price drops to 1.0863, five pips through that low, triggering the sell stops beneath it.

Step 3: displacement and MSS. Price reverses with three large bullish 5-minute candles and closes above the last swing high at 1.0885. The displacement leaves a bullish fair value gap between the first candle's high at 1.0869 and the third candle's low at 1.0877. The gap's 50% level is 1.0873.

Step 4: entry. A buy limit is placed at 1.0873.

Step 5: stop. The stop goes two pips below the sweep low, at 1.0861.

Step 6: target. The target is set just below the previous day's high, at 1.0909.

The numbers:

• Risk: 1.0873 − 1.0861 = 0.0012 = 12 pips
• Reward: 1.0909 − 1.0873 = 0.0036 = 36 pips
• Risk-reward: 12 : 36 = 1:3

Position sizing. The account is $10,000 and the trader risks 1%, so the maximum loss is $100. On EUR/USD one standard lot is worth $10 per pip.

Lots = $100 ÷ (12 pips × $10 per pip) = $100 ÷ $120 = 0.833, rounded down to 0.83 lots.

• Actual risk if stopped: 0.83 × 12 × $10 = $99.60
• Profit if target is hit: 0.83 × 36 × $10 = $298.80, before spread and commission

You can confirm the size with the Position Size Calculator and the ratio with the Risk-Reward Calculator. A 12-pip stop is tight, so check that the spread at that time is small relative to it; a 1-pip spread already costs over 8% of the planned risk.

How traders use it

• One direction per day. The draw decides direction before the session starts, which removes much of the in-the-moment guessing.
• Patience over frequency. On many days the sequence never completes. Most users of the model accept zero trades as a normal outcome.
• Management rules in advance. Some take partial profits at the broken swing high or the first internal pool; others hold to target. Either can be valid if it is decided before entry. See ICT risk and trade management.
• Combining with other clues. SMT divergence at the sweep, or a higher-timeframe array at the sweep low, adds context.

Common mistakes

• Starting with the lower timeframe. Without a higher-timeframe draw, the model becomes a pattern that fires in both directions.
• Accepting weak displacement. Small overlapping candles that barely break a swing rarely show real intent.
• Chasing after a missed entry. If price never retraces into the gap, the trade is skipped, not entered at market.
• Stops inside the sweep wick, where a second probe can reach them.
• Rounding lot size up. Always round down so the loss never exceeds the planned amount.
• Trading outside kill zones because a gap "looks nice" at lunchtime.

Summary

The ICT 2022 model is an ordered checklist: higher-timeframe draw, sweep in a kill zone, displacement and MSS leaving a fair value gap, entry on the retrace, stop beyond the sweep, target at opposing liquidity. In the example, a 12-pip stop on a $10,000 account at 1% risk gives 0.83 lots, a planned loss of $99.60 and a planned gain of $298.80. The model gives structure, not certainty, and every trade can lose. Practice it on a simulator and in a journal before risking real money.