What it means
Sequence for a bullish breaker: swing high, a drop that sweeps an old low, then a close back up through the bearish order block at the swing high.
In practice
A breaker is a zone that changed hands. Traders who sold at the old order block were proven wrong when price closed through it, so when price returns, the same area tends to act as support instead.
It is used as an entry zone after a reversal: wait for the sweep, the close through the block and then the first return to it, with the stop beyond the low of the sweep.
What to watch for
Without the sweep before it, the pattern is just a broken level. Price also does not always come back to the breaker, and chasing after it has left defeats the purpose of the setup.
Related terms
3 terms- Mitigation blockLike a breaker, a failed order block that flips, but formed without a liquidity sweep.
- Order blockOBThe last opposite-coloured candle before a displacement that breaks structure; price often reacts when it returns.
- Unicorn modelA breaker block overlapping a same-direction fair value gap; the overlap is the entry zone.