Structural vs Indicator-Based Trading Logic — Seeking Real Practitioners’ Insight

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I’m not looking for recycled opinions from YouTube or X.
I want to hear from traders who are actually in the trenches—building EAs, testing ideas, filtering noise, and continuously trying to understand how the market really moves.
If you’re one of those people, I would truly value your perspective.
My Core Question
Where does real edge come from?
Is it:
1. Structural logic
Key support/resistance
Role reversals
Double tops/bottoms
Dow Theory trend structure
Trendline breaks
Or:
2. Indicator / oscillator-based systems
From both a performance and implementation standpoint:
Which approach is more robust?
Which is more realistic to systematize into an EA?
My Background & Current Struggle
I come from a discretionary trading background, mainly focused on structural analysis.
And to be honest—I’ve felt an edge there.
But:
It requires time
It’s mentally demanding
Consistency is hard
That led me to EA development.
When I backtested simplified versions of my ideas, I saw signs of stability. Enough to believe:
“If I can translate this properly into code, it could work.”
The Conflict
Most EAs I see are built on indicators.
Many traders have told me:
“Structural logic is too complex to code.
Stick to simple indicator combinations.”
So I tried.
Using ChatGPT, I built and tested multiple indicator-based strategies.
Result:
I didn’t feel a real edge.
Where I Am Now
My structural logic is not yet coded well enough to test properly
My testing process and system design still need improvement
I know this is a skill issue I need to overcome
And realistically, I expect the answer is:
A hybrid of structure + indicators
But Here’s My Belief
Structural logic feels closer to the true mechanics of the market.
Which makes me think:
It might be harder… but ultimately more powerful.
What I Want to Learn From You
How do you approach the market?
Have you successfully encoded structural concepts into systems?
Do you rely more on indicators, structure, or a combination?
Where do you believe real edge comes from?
I’m not looking for “right answers.”
I’m looking for real experiences, real failures, and real thinking.
 

Focus on what works. Even if it is difficult, it is not impossible. There is no such thing is too complex to code, eventhough there are often simple solutions for the same problem. You can train AI for example to detect pullback patterns but it is computationally expensive while a simple deviation threshold yields the same results.

No indicator has an edge in itself, Indicators are just tools and should be used as such. I am employing tick based algorithms with no indicator, just a very simple mathematical model. Using optmizier i brute-force search (or align if you will) for market structures. This works wel but the downside is it does require a real market tick feed. It does not work on hodge podge market maker broker feed, so it is very broker specific.

As of late i am trying to expand to less broker dependent strategies and entered into the realm of bars and indicators, with varying degrees of success. Best results where abtained based on a simple but sound ideas even using lagging repainting indicator. So my epxerience is the same as yours, structure is the main driver.

As to the edge, it can come from many places. It does not mattrer what you trade, but how you trade it somebody once said, and i agree. For example there are quite a few people profitable with a breakout strategy while others keep on yapping about false breakouts. So the edge can be as simple as the profit taking/ minimize loss mechanim, al else being equal (ie trading the same price levels).

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