What is a mitigation block?

In a bullish mitigation block, price makes a low, rallies to a swing high and pulls back — but the pullback stops above the first low. That higher low shows sellers are weaker. When price then closes above the swing high, the last up-close candle at that high is the mitigation block.

The name comes from the idea that traders who bought at that candle and were trapped in the pullback “mitigate” — close their positions at break-even — when price returns, adding to the buying. A bearish mitigation block is the same pattern upside down.

The pullback holds above the first low; price then closes above the swing high, and the up-close candle at that high holds as support on the way back.

The example in numbers

Mitigation block	1.08480–1.08620 · 14 pips · 50% at 1.08550
Entry (long)	1.08620 — top of the block
Stop	1.08460 — 2 pips below the block (16 pips)
Target	1.08920 — the next high (30 pips)
Reward to risk	1.88R · breaks even at a 35% win rate

EURUSD prices from the chart above (Mitigation block), entry at 1.08620. At 1.88R, this setup needs to win more than 35% of the time to make money before costs. Try your own levels in the risk/reward calculator.

Mitigation block: how to spot it

Find a swing high after a low, followed by a pullback that holds above that low.
Wait for a close above the swing high — a break of structure.
Mark the last up-close candle at the swing high: its range is the mitigation block.
Plan the long on the return into the block, with the stop below it or below the higher low.

Definitions differ

Many ICT courses use mitigation block only for the no-sweep case and breaker block for the sweep case; some traders use the words interchangeably. A few draw the zone from the candle’s body only.

Common mistakes

Mixing it up with a breaker
If the pullback made a lower low and swept liquidity, it is a breaker. Tag them separately: their win rates may differ.
No break of structure
A higher low alone is not enough. Without a close above the swing high, the pattern has not formed.
Using a block far from price
Blocks lose relevance with time. A mitigation block from many sessions ago is weaker than one from the current move.

Your win rate on Mitigation block

A definition does not tell you whether your Mitigation block trades pay. Your own record does: in the journal, open a trade from MT4 or MT5 and add it once as your own entry criterion with “+”, then press the key of Mitigation block under Entry criteria — the most used criteria get keys 1–9.

Reports then show Mitigation block by itself: trades, win rate without breakeven trades, average R and P&L, and Mitigation block in each ICT killzone, which is set on every trade by itself. Combinations such as Mitigation block with another criterion appear once they have 15 trades, so a lucky streak does not look like an edge.

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Questions

›What is the difference between a mitigation block and a breaker block?

Both are failed order blocks that flip. A breaker comes after a sweep of liquidity (a lower low); a mitigation block comes after a failure to make one (a higher low).

›Is a mitigation block weaker than a breaker?

Some traders think so because no stops were taken. The honest answer is your own record: tag both and compare after 30 or more trades.

›What does “mitigation” mean here?

Traders trapped in a losing position closing it near break-even when price comes back, which adds orders in the new direction.