How to Pass the Topstep Trading Combine: Rules, Strategy, and Common Mistakes

The Topstep Trading Combine is a funded trader evaluation program for futures. Pass the Combine and Topstep funds your account — you keep 90% of profits, they keep 10%. The path to a funded account is well-defined, but the majority of participants fail not from poor trading ability but from poor rule compliance. This guide covers every rule, the most common failure modes, and the specific strategy adjustments that maximize pass probability. ## The Combine Rules (What You Must Know Before Starting) **Account sizes available:** - $50,000 Combine: Profit target $3,000 / Daily loss limit $1,000 / Max trailing drawdown $2,000 - $100,000 Combine: Profit target $6,000 / Daily loss limit $2,000 / Max trailing drawdown $3,000 - $150,000 Combine: Profit target $9,000 / Daily loss limit $3,000 / Max trailing drawdown $4,500 **Trailing drawdown mechanics:** Topstep uses a trailing drawdown that moves up as your account profits but never moves down. Your starting floor is the account starting value minus the max drawdown. As you earn profits, the floor rises with you. If you start at $50,000 with $2,000 trailing drawdown, your floor starts at $48,000. You trade to $52,000 and the floor moves to $50,000. A bad day that takes you to $49,500 violates the floor and ends the Combine — even though you are still in profit from the starting value. **Daily loss limit:** This is a strict hard limit — if you lose more than the daily limit in a single session, the Combine is ended for that day (some accounts) or terminated entirely (depending on account type). Check your specific account rules — Topstep has updated these over time. The daily loss limit typically resets at the start of each session. **Consistency rule:** Topstep implements a consistency rule on the funded account, not the evaluation. During the Combine, focus on the profit target and daily loss limit. **No overnight holds (default):** Positions must be closed before the end of the daily session. Topstep's default rule: all positions must be flat before the daily close window. Some accounts allow overnight holds with specific activation — check the account details. **Minimum trading days:** Topstep requires a minimum number of trading days (typically 10 active trading days) before the profit target is considered achieved. You cannot pass by having one exceptional day. ## Step 1: Account Size Selection The most common mistake: selecting too large an account. The $100,000 Combine has a higher profit target ($6,000) but also a larger daily loss limit ($2,000). It is not inherently easier — it just has larger absolute numbers. For traders with standard ES position sizes (1–3 contracts), the $50,000 Combine is the appropriate starting point. The $3,000 profit target on 1–2 contracts is achievable within the 10-day minimum trading requirement without needing exceptional performance days. For traders who already use 3–5 contracts regularly, the $100,000 Combine aligns better with natural position sizing. **Never upsize your trading for the Combine.** The most reliable failure mode: a trader who normally trades 1 contract upsizes to 3 contracts "to hit the target faster" and blows the daily loss limit on the first adverse day. Trade your normal size throughout. ## Step 2: Daily Loss Limit Management (Priority One) The daily loss limit is the only condition that can instantly terminate the Combine in a single session. Respect it as a non-negotiable hard stop, not a guideline. Practical management: - Calculate your personal daily stop at 50–60% of the Combine daily loss limit. For a $50K Combine with $1,000 daily limit, your personal stop is $500–$600 for the day. When you hit your personal stop, close the platform for the day. Period. - Never make exceptions. The two worst mistakes are: adding to a losing position to recover, and taking a revenge trade after the personal daily stop triggers. Both frequently turn a -$500 day into a -$1,000 day that terminates the Combine. - Set up NT8's daily loss limit protection (Tools > Options > Risk) at the Combine's hard limit as a mechanical backstop. If your judgment fails, the software enforces the limit. ## Step 3: Trailing Drawdown Floor Tracking Before every session, recalculate your current trailing drawdown floor: - Current floor = (Account peak value) - (Trailing drawdown amount) - Track peak value: your floor rises every time you make a new account equity high Maintain a simple spreadsheet: Date | Opening Balance | Daily P&L | Account Value | Floor | Buffer (Account Value - Floor) When the buffer is thin (less than 1 daily loss limit), reduce your position size to protect the floor. When the buffer is ample (2× daily loss limit or more), you can trade with standard size. ## Step 4: Profit Target Strategy — Consistent Small Days The fastest path to the profit target is not a few exceptional days — it is consistent small profitable days. Here is the math for the $50K Combine: - Profit target: $3,000 - Minimum days: 10 - Average required: $300/day A trader making $300/day over 10 days achieves the target exactly at the minimum day count. $300/day on 1 ES contract = approximately 12 ticks net per session ($375 gross minus commissions). This is achievable with 2–3 quality KPL setups. By targeting $300–$400/day (not "make as much as possible"), you: 1. Avoid the oversizing trap — you don't need big days 2. Protect the trailing drawdown — consistent profits raise the floor gradually rather than in spikes 3. Reduce risk of daily loss limit violations — disciplined small targets mean you are not in large positions at risk of outsized losses **Once the daily target is reached: stop trading.** Shut down the platform after hitting $300–$400 for the day. Every additional trade is risk without proportional necessity. ## Step 5: The Minimum Day Count Game Ten minimum trading days means you must trade across at least 10 calendar sessions. Traders who finish all their planned trading in 6 sessions cannot claim the funded account even if they have hit the profit target. Distribute your trading: plan to trade 10–14 sessions over 2–3 calendar weeks. On days when you hit your daily target quickly, close the platform. On days when the market is difficult, trade minimally and protect against the daily loss limit. ## Common Combine Failure Modes **Failure 1: Day 1 blowup** — Trader opens a larger-than-usual position to "make progress quickly" and gets stopped for the daily loss limit. Many Combines end on day 1 from this mistake. **Failure 2: Revenge trading after early losses** — The first 2 hours are bad, the trader is down $400 on a $50K Combine (40% of daily limit). Instead of stopping for the day, the trader adds size to recover and hits the $1,000 daily limit. **Failure 3: Trailing drawdown creep** — Trader profits $1,500 in week 1 (floor rises $1,500), then has a $1,200 losing week. The floor is now $300 higher than when they started, and the $1,200 drawdown from the peak combines with the $1,500 in profits to leave them very close to the floor — even though they are still profitable relative to day 1. **Failure 4: Holding overnight unknowingly** — Forgetting to close a position before the session close window triggers an overnight hold violation. Set a 3:50 PM ET reminder to close all positions. ## The YMI Combine Playbook The specific strategy for passing any futures Combine: 1. Trade your normal strategy with your normal size — no adjustments for the Combine 2. Personal daily stop = 50% of the Combine daily limit 3. Daily target = 10–15% of the profit target (achievable over minimum days) 4. Stop trading for the day immediately upon hitting either limit 5. Track trailing drawdown floor every session before trading 6. Trade minimum 10 sessions distributed over 2+ weeks 7. When the target is reached on the final day, verify day count is met, then submit for funded account