Some conditions aren't just "worth points" — they're non-negotiable. Two special flags capture that.
Core confluences are the load-bearing conditions of your strategy — the things without which the setup isn't really your setup. For an ICT reversal, a liquidity sweep and a structure shift are core. Miss a core confluence and the grade should be capped, no matter how many minor boxes you tick. A pile of small confluences can't substitute for a missing pillar.
Disqualifiers (gates) are the opposite — conditions that, when violated, should kill the trade regardless of everything else:
- High-impact news inside your window (FOMC, CPI, NFP).
- Trading against your higher-timeframe bias.
- No liquidity swept before entry.
- Outside your prop-firm rule headroom.
A gate isn't a deduction — it's a stop sign. One tripped gate turns an "A" into a "no-trade," and that's correct: it's the checklist protecting you from the trade that looks great and blows up your account.
In TradeFern you mark items Core or Gate on any list. Core caps the grade when missing; a Gate forces a no-trade when unmet. That's how a checklist enforces discipline instead of just tallying optimism.