ICT Suspension Block — The Newest PD Array Explained (2025)
The Suspension Block was introduced by ICT in September 2025 as a new PD Array concept. It represents a specific candle structure that identifies zones where price was suspended before a major move.
The ICT Suspension Block is a PD Array concept introduced by Michael Huddleston in September 2025. Like all ICT PD Arrays, it identifies a specific price zone of institutional significance — a zone where price was effectively suspended or held before a major directional move. Understanding the Suspension Block adds another tool to the PD Array toolkit, particularly for identifying zones that precede explosive moves.
What Is a Suspension Block?
A Suspension Block forms when price appears to be suspended at a specific level — held in a very tight range for multiple candles without breaking out — immediately before a significant impulsive move. The suspension is the algorithmic accumulation phase at a key level: smart money is loading a position, and price is held tightly while that loading occurs. When the position is fully loaded, the explosive move releases.
The term "suspension" is literal — price appears suspended at a level, defying gravity (in the case of a bullish suspension just before a rally) or defying the downward pull (in the case of a bearish suspension before a selloff). This suspension creates a well-defined zone that, on price's return, acts as a powerful PD Array element.
Identifying a Suspension Block
- diamondLook for a cluster of 3-7 candles with very small bodies and minimal wicks, all contained within an extremely tight range — the zone of suspension.
- diamondImmediately following the suspension cluster, a powerful displacement move occurs — multiple large-bodied candles moving strongly in one direction.
- diamondThe suspension zone itself becomes the Suspension Block — a rectangular zone defined by the high and low of the tight-ranging cluster.
- diamondThe Suspension Block on the return of price acts as support (if the move after it was bullish) or resistance (if the move after it was bearish).
- diamondThe most valid Suspension Blocks form during accumulation periods — the Asian session, or during the pre-Killzone lull before the London or New York open.
Trading the Suspension Block
The Suspension Block trade follows the standard ICT PD Array entry model. When price returns to the Suspension Block zone, switch to a lower timeframe and look for the reaction confirmation — a displacement away from the zone, an FVG forming within the zone, or a lower timeframe MSS that confirms the reversal from the Suspension Block.
The entry is a limit order at the midpoint of the Suspension Block (the 50% level of the tight-range cluster). Stop: just beyond the outer edge of the cluster. Target: the next liquidity pool in the direction of the original post-suspension move.
Suspension Block vs Order Block — The Distinction
The key difference between a Suspension Block and a standard Order Block is the pre-move price action. An Order Block is identified by a single last-opposing candle before a move. A Suspension Block is identified by a cluster of tight-ranging candles before the move. The suspension indicates more deliberate, extended accumulation by smart money — which typically results in a more explosive move when it releases and a more reliable reaction when price returns.
The Suspension Block is particularly relevant on higher timeframes (4-hour and daily) where the tight clustering of candles before a major move is clearly visible. Once you identify a Suspension Block on the daily chart, mark it and watch for the return. These zones often produce some of the cleanest reactions in the entire PD Array hierarchy because the institutional position loading that created them was so deliberate.