SMC Multi-Timeframe POI Filtering: From 200 Candidates to 3 A+ Setups

Mark every order block, FVG, and liquidity pool on every timeframe and you will have 200+ Points of Interest. The skill is not in finding POIs but in filtering them down to the few that align with institutional flow. This is the filtering workflow.

Tier 1: HTF bias (D1 and H4). Start on the daily. Is price in premium or discount? Is the current H4 structure bullish or bearish (last BOS direction)? Write the bias down. If D1 and H4 disagree, stand aside or trade small until they align. This single filter kills roughly 50% of candidate POIs.

Tier 2: HTF POI selection. On H4, mark only unmitigated order blocks and FVGs that sit in the correct array (discount for longs, premium for shorts). Ignore zones already mitigated twice. Typically you are left with 3-6 HTF POIs per instrument.

Tier 3: LTF POI alignment. Drop to M15 or M5. Within the footprint of each surviving HTF POI, look for a lower-timeframe POI in the same direction. A bullish H4 OB containing a bullish M15 FVG is a stacked POI. Non-stacked zones drop out here.

Tier 4: Liquidity check. For each stacked POI, confirm there is resting liquidity beyond the HTF POI in the trade direction. No liquidity target = no motive = skip. This removes another 30-40% of remaining candidates.

Tier 5: Freshness and timing. Rank survivors by freshness. POIs created within the last 5-10 HTF candles rank higher than 30-candle-old zones. Eliminate any POI older than the current HTF range.

Tier 6: Confluence score. Score each survivor: +1 for Fibonacci 0.5/0.618 overlap, +1 for equilibrium proximity, +1 for session timing (London/NY), +1 for displacement strength, +1 for unmitigated status. Keep only POIs scoring 4 or higher.

Output. You should be left with 2-4 A+ setups per instrument per week. These are the only zones worth risking full position size on. Everything else is either an avoid or a small-probability observation.

Execution discipline. Once filtered, do not add POIs mid-trade. If an A+ setup fails to trigger within 3 HTF candles, remove it. Stale POIs breed forced entries.

The filtering error to avoid. Trading the LTF POI that sits inside an HTF POI pointing the opposite direction. A bullish M15 FVG inside a bearish H4 OB is a trap roughly 70% of the time. Direction alignment across at least two timeframes is non-negotiable.