Reclaimed Order Blocks: The Complete Guide to ICT and SMC – Part 5

#What Is a Reclaimed Order Block?

Before understanding a reclaimed order block, it helps to revisit the basic idea of an Order Block.

An Order Block is a price area associated with a specific candle that appears before a meaningful directional move. Depending on the context, an order block can be bullish or bearish.

Within the framework discussed in this episode, when the high of a bearish candle is broken, that candle may qualify as a bullish order block if the surrounding market structure supports the idea. In the opposite scenario, when the low of a bullish candle is broken, that candle may become relevant as a bearish order block.

A reclaimed order block becomes important when price later returns to one of these older zones and reclaims it in the direction of the new market move.

In a bullish context, an old order block may become support after price moves back above it. In a bearish context, an old order block may become resistance after price trades back below it.

The key point is that not every old order block automatically becomes a valid reclaimed order block. Its position within the wider market structure matters more than the candle itself.

#How Reclaimed Order Blocks Relate to the Market Maker Model

One of the key ideas in this lesson is the Market Maker Model, a framework used to examine how price moves through different stages of a broader cycle and transitions between the buy side and sell side of a price curve.

At its simplest, price can be viewed as moving through two sides of a curve:

• The sell side of the curve

• The buy side of the curve

In a bullish model, price may first move through the sell side of the curve before reaching an important area, reversing, and transitioning into the bullish phase of the cycle.

A bearish model follows the opposite logic.

#Market Maker Buy Model

The Market Maker Buy Model describes a structure in which price moves through the sell side of the curve before transitioning into a bullish move.

During the decline, several bullish order blocks may form along the way.

Once price reaches the area where the market changes direction and begins moving higher, some of those older order blocks can be reclaimed. After being reclaimed, they may act as support if price later revisits them.

This is where the reclaimed order block becomes more useful: it is not simply an old zone on the chart, but a zone that has been reintroduced into the current price structure.

#Market Maker Sell Model

The Market Maker Sell Model works in the opposite direction. It describes a structure in which price moves through the buy side of the curve before transitioning into a bearish phase.

As price moves higher, bearish order blocks may form.

After the market reverses and starts trading lower, some of those earlier bearish order blocks may be reclaimed to the downside. If price later retraces into those areas, they can act as resistance.

#How a Bullish Reclaimed Order Block Forms

To understand the bullish version, start by examining the sell side of the curve.

Price may be moving toward an important higher-timeframe area. During that decline, shorter-term reactions can create order blocks along the way.

Once price reaches the intended area and changes direction, it begins moving higher. If the market then trades back through one of the older order blocks that formed during the decline, that zone may become a bullish reclaimed order block.

If price later returns to that area, the reclaimed zone may provide support.

A practical process for identifying this structure is:

• Determine the broader market structure.

• Identify the sell side of the curve.

• Locate relevant order blocks from the previous move.

• Watch for a change in price direction.

• Observe whether the old zone is reclaimed.

• Study how price reacts if it returns to that zone again.

The existence of an order block alone is not enough. The more meaningful confluence the zone has with other structural elements, the more relevant it may become.

#How a Bearish Reclaimed Order Block Forms

The bearish setup follows the same logic in reverse.

Here, the first area to examine is the buy side of the curve, where price is moving higher.

During that move, several bearish order blocks may form. Once price reaches the intended area and the market changes direction, a bearish move begins.

If price then trades below one of those earlier order blocks and effectively reclaims it to the downside, the zone may later act as resistance when price retraces back into it.

Again, the key is to study the full price cycle rather than focusing on a single isolated candle.

A reclaimed order block makes the most sense when it is viewed within the complete price structure, not when it is treated as a standalone candle pattern.

#Why Confluence Matters

Another major topic in this episode is PD Arrays, or Price Delivery Arrays, which are price structures and zones used in ICT to evaluate areas where price may react or deliver from one region to another.

A chart can easily contain dozens of order blocks, gaps, highs, lows, and other price zones. If every one of them is marked without any filtering, the result is usually a cluttered chart full of lines and boxes.

A better approach is to focus on areas where multiple relevant structures overlap.

For example, a reclaimed order block may align with:

• Another order block

• A mitigation block

• A fair value gap

• A higher-timeframe area of interest

A Mitigation Block is a zone that price revisits as part of the process of managing or mitigating previous order flow.

A Fair Value Gap, often abbreviated as FVG, is an imbalance created when price moves quickly enough to leave inefficient trading between candles.

When one of these structures overlaps with a reclaimed order block, the area may become more important from a structural point of view.

The goal is not to stack as many concepts as possible. The goal is to recognize when multiple independent price structures point to the same area.

#Why You Should Not Mark Every Order Block on the Chart

A common mistake when learning order blocks is to mark every candle that appears to meet the basic definition.

This usually creates a chart covered with zones, making decision-making harder instead of easier.

Suppose you can identify five or six potential order blocks in one section of the chart. The better question is not whether all of them technically qualify as order blocks.

Instead, ask:

• Which one is aligned with the broader market structure?

• Which one is located in the correct part of the curve?

• Which one has already been reclaimed by price?

• Which one overlaps with other relevant price arrays?

• Which area has the strongest structural reason for price to react?

This approach reduces noise instead of adding more markings to the chart.

#The Role of Higher and Lower Timeframes

One practical technique covered in this episode is to begin with a higher-timeframe structure and then move down to a lower timeframe for more detail.

For example, an order block may first be identified on the four-hour chart. From there, moving down to the 15-minute chart can reveal the internal structure of price and make the buy-side and sell-side phases of the curve easier to see.

This helps prevent traders from treating a large higher-timeframe zone as nothing more than a rectangle.

Instead, the lower timeframe can show how price actually behaved inside that area.

#Why Multi-Timeframe Analysis Helps

A higher timeframe can provide the broader context, while a lower timeframe can reveal the sequence of price movements that led into or away from the zone.

This allows you to study:

• Which side of the curve price entered from

• Which order blocks formed during the move

• Which zones were later reclaimed

• Whether several PD Arrays overlap in the same area

Used correctly, multi-timeframe analysis can make reclaimed order blocks much easier to interpret.

#What Role Does Displacement Play?

Some parts of market structure include a strong directional move known as Displacement.

Displacement refers to a fast, decisive move in price that shows a temporary increase in buying or selling pressure.

This kind of movement can indicate that price behavior has changed relative to the previous part of the structure.

For example, in a bullish model, price may reach an important area and then move aggressively higher through an old order block. The way price reclaims that zone, and the way it behaves when it later returns to it, can become important.

This is why the order block itself is only one part of the analysis.

You should also study how price approached the area, how it moved away from it, and whether the reclaim occurred with meaningful displacement.

#How to Find Higher-Quality Reclaimed Order Blocks

A simple analytical process can help filter the more relevant zones from the weaker ones.

#1. Start With the Broader Market Structure

Before marking any order block, determine where price is within the larger market move.

Without context, a single order block has limited value.

#2. Identify the Buy Side and Sell Side of the Curve

Determine which side of the Market Maker Model the order block formed on.

This is especially important when distinguishing bullish structures from bearish ones.

#3. Look at Older Order Blocks to the Left of the Chart

A reclaimed order block usually comes from an earlier part of market structure.

For that reason, historical price action matters.

Do not focus only on the most recent candles.

#4. Study How the Zone Is Reclaimed

Simply touching an old order block is not enough.

Observe how price trades through the area and what happens afterward.

The reclaim itself is part of the structure.

#5. Look for Confluence

If the reclaimed order block overlaps with another order block, a mitigation block, a fair value gap, or another important price structure, that area may deserve more attention.

#6. Keep the Chart Clean

You do not need to mark every possible zone.

Focus on the areas that are most closely connected to the current market structure.

A cleaner chart usually makes the important information easier to see.

#Reclaimed Order Block vs. Regular Order Block

A regular order block focuses on the initial formation of the zone.

A reclaimed order block includes an additional step: price later returns to an older order block and trades back through it in the direction of the new market move.

That means the analysis cannot stop at identifying the original candle.

You also need to study what happened before and after the zone formed.

In simple terms:

• A regular order block focuses on the original price zone.

• A reclaimed order block focuses on how price later reuses an older zone.

• The position of the reclaimed order block within the Market Maker Model matters.

• Confluence with other price structures can make the area more meaningful.

#A Common Mistake: Looking for a Fixed Pattern on Every Chart

A reclaimed order block should not be reduced to a mechanical pattern that traders try to force onto every chart.

You may find many possible order blocks in a single market move, but that does not mean price has to react to all of them.

Instead of asking:

“Which candle is the reclaimed order block?”

A better question is:

“Which area is most important within the current market structure, and what other factors support that area?”

That shift in perspective moves the analysis away from simply naming candles and toward understanding how price behaves within the broader structure.

#Final Thoughts on Reclaimed Order Blocks

Reclaimed order blocks become far more useful when they are studied alongside market structure and the Market Maker Model.

In a bullish environment, bullish order blocks may form on the sell side of a Market Maker Buy Model and later act as support after being reclaimed.

In a bearish environment, bearish order blocks formed on the buy side of a Market Maker Sell Model may later become resistance once price reclaims them to the downside.

One of the most important lessons from this episode is the value of confluence between different PD Arrays.

Instead of filling the chart with dozens of unrelated levels, it is more practical to focus on the areas where several important structural elements meet.

Ultimately, the purpose of learning reclaimed order blocks is not to add another signal or another rectangle to the chart.

The goal is to improve the way you read price structure, understand how older zones become relevant again, and identify the areas that deserve the most attention within a larger market narrative.