Hi everyone,
I'm looking for advice from experienced traders or EA developers on how to approach a proprietary trading challenge that has a very particular structure and some tough rules. I’m considering creating an EA (Expert Advisor) or a manual strategy to pass it consistently.
Here are the main rules of the challenge:
Account Setup
I'm looking for advice from experienced traders or EA developers on how to approach a proprietary trading challenge that has a very particular structure and some tough rules. I’m considering creating an EA (Expert Advisor) or a manual strategy to pass it consistently.
Here are the main rules of the challenge:
Account Setup- Deposit: $50
- Trade size: 0.01 lots
- Stop Loss (SL) must be set before order execution
- SL cannot be widened, but can be moved closer or set to breakeven
- SL minimums: 15 pips (Forex), 30 pips (XAU)
- Only the following pairs allowed:
EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CAD, XAU/USD - Break-even allowed
- Pending orders allowed
- No position scaling (no martingale, no adding to losers)
- No partial closes
- No weekend trades (all closed by system at 23:30 GMT+3)
- No trading during high-impact news
- Only one open trade at a time
Level System
- You start at Level 0, and the scale goes from -9 to +14
- Win a trade with RR 1:1.5, you move up 1 level
- Lose a trade, you move down 1 level
- Example: SL of 100 pips ➝ TP must be 150 pips
- If you reach Level -9 → Challenge Failed
- If you reach Level +9 → You get $199 refund
- At Level 14 → You receive your first payout
- After each payout, you restart from Level 10
My Initial Thoughts
The required 1:1.5 RR per trade sounds challenging—especially with limited room to recover after losses. However, I was considering:
- Opening each trade with 1:1.5 RR, but then managing it actively:
- Move SL to breakeven as soon as the price moves favorably (to avoid losing levels unnecessarily)
- Maybe use 1:1.25 RR trades and achieve level gain with 2 consecutive winners
- Avoid trading during high volatility (e.g., news spikes, London open)
- Using a high probability setup with clear entry/exit logic, possibly based on price action + S&R + confirmation indicators (like MACD or RSI divergence)
What I’m Asking
Has anyone here faced a similar challenge or passed a prop firm test with such a RR constraint and strict risk rules?
- What kind of strategy would you recommend for this kind of environment?
- Should I focus on low volatility pairs or avoid gold (XAU)?
- Is it realistic to automate this with an EA, or better to trade manually?
- Any advice on how to manage trades to reduce drawdown and avoid losing too many levels?
Any suggestions or ideas from algo traders or prop firm veterans would be appreciated. Bonus points if you've passed something similar or can share a sample EA or logic!
Thanks in advance 
