ICT Venom Model 2025 — ICT's Latest Entry Strategy Explained
The Venom Model is one of ICT's newest trade execution frameworks introduced in 2025. It combines specific structural conditions with precise timing to produce high-probability reversal entries.
The ICT Venom Model is one of the most recently introduced trade execution frameworks in ICT's 2025 teaching. Named for its sharp, decisive nature — a trade that strikes quickly and cleanly — the Venom Model is a precision entry model built on the convergence of a liquidity sweep, a Market Structure Shift, and a specific Fair Value Gap entry during defined time windows. It is designed for traders who are already comfortable with the foundational ICT concepts and want a clearly defined, mechanical execution model.
The Core Venom Model Components
The Venom Model has three required components that must all be present for a valid setup. First: a liquidity sweep — price must take out a swing high or swing low, collecting the stops and pending orders resting at that level. This is the manipulation component. Second: a Market Structure Shift (MSS) — after the sweep, price must shift structure on the lower timeframe, confirming that the delivery direction has changed. Third: a Fair Value Gap entry — the MSS displacement must create an FVG that price then retraces into, providing the specific entry point.
Venom Model Setup Step by Step
- diamondStep 1 — Establish Daily Bias: Determine whether institutional order flow is bullish or bearish on the daily chart. Only take Venom setups in the direction of the daily bias.
- diamondStep 2 — Identify Key Liquidity: Mark the most significant swing high (BSL) and swing low (SSL) on the session chart (15-minute or 1-hour).
- diamondStep 3 — Wait for the Sweep: During a London or New York Killzone, wait for price to sweep the liquidity level opposite to your bias (sweep the SSL if bullish, sweep the BSL if bearish).
- diamondStep 4 — Confirm the MSS: After the sweep, watch for the Market Structure Shift on the 5-minute chart. Price must break above the most recent short-term high (for bullish Venom) or below the most recent short-term low (for bearish Venom) with a displacement candle.
- diamondStep 5 — Enter the FVG: The MSS displacement creates an FVG. Wait for price to retrace into this FVG and enter at the CE (50% of the gap).
- diamondStep 6 — Place Stop and Target: Stop below the sweep candle's low (for long). Target: the next BSL or DOL above.
The Venom vs the Silver Bullet
Both the Venom Model and the Silver Bullet involve a sweep followed by a displacement and FVG entry. The key distinction is timing specificity. The Silver Bullet requires the setup to occur within specific 60-minute windows. The Venom Model is not window-restricted in the same way — it requires the sweep and MSS to occur during any Killzone, but does not require a specific 60-minute window.
In practice, many Venom setups occur during the same windows as Silver Bullets (10:00-11:00 AM and 2:00-3:00 PM New York). The Venom adds the explicit requirement for a confirmed MSS before entry, while the Silver Bullet allows entry on the FVG without waiting for the full MSS confirmation. Venom is more conservative; Silver Bullet is more aggressive.
Venom Model Risk Management
The Venom Model's stop is placed beyond the sweep candle's extremity — below the sweep low for long trades, above the sweep high for short trades. This stop placement means that if the sweep was not actually manipulation (if price genuinely continues through the level), the stop is triggered before significant damage is done. The target is the next significant liquidity pool.
The Venom Model requires patience of two kinds: patience to wait for the sweep (do not enter before it), and patience to wait for the MSS confirmation after the sweep (do not enter on the sweep candle itself). Both forms of patience protect you from false signals. The model only works when all three components — sweep, MSS, FVG — are present in sequence.