Drawdown Replay: Complete User Guide
Replay your actual trading history against any prop firm's drawdown rules. See exactly where you would have failed — or survived.
What Is Drawdown Replay?
Drawdown Replay takes your actual trade history (uploaded as CSV) and replays it against prop firm drawdown rules in real time. You see an animated equity curve with drawdown limit lines overlaid, showing exactly when and where you would have breached a rule.
It's like a flight simulator for your trading. Instead of finding out you'd fail a challenge by actually failing (and losing your fee), you find out in 30 seconds with zero risk.
Beyond Backtesting
Standard backtests show cumulative P&L but ignore drawdown limits. A strategy that returns 15% annually might have a 12% max drawdown along the way — which would violate every prop firm's rules.
Drawdown Replay adds the critical layer: "Would this performance survive prop firm rules?" It draws the max drawdown line and daily drawdown line on your equity curve so you can see exactly how close you came to violation at every point.
Benefits of Using the Drawdown Replay
Test Before You Buy
Replay 3 months of demo trading against FTMO rules. If you survive the replay, you can buy the challenge with confidence.
Find Your Weak Points
See exactly which trades or days caused the biggest drawdown spikes. Often it's 2-3 specific incidents that make or break the account.
Compare Firm Compatibility
Replay the same trade history against 5 different firms and see which one you'd survive. Some firms' rules are a natural fit for your trading style.
Animated Visualization
Watch your equity curve build trade-by-trade with drawdown limits in real time. This visceral experience builds risk awareness in a way raw numbers don't.
CSV Upload Support
Import trade history from any broker or platform. Standard CSV format with date, P&L columns. No manual data entry needed.
Risks of NOT Using It
Blind Spot: Your Worst Days
Without replay, you only remember your average performance. But prop firm rules care about your worst day, your worst drawdown, your worst streak. Replay exposes what your memory hides.
Paying for Incompatible Firms
Your trading style might inherently violate certain firms' rules. A swing trader with overnight holds might fail firms with tight daily limits. Replay reveals these structural mismatches before you pay.
Overconfidence from Good Months
A profitable 3-month period might contain a 2-week stretch that would have blown a prop account. Cherry-picking your "good period" to start a challenge is a trap that replay catches.
Missing the Daily Drawdown Spike
You might survive the overall drawdown but breach the daily limit at 2:30 PM on a Tuesday. Without trade-by-trade replay, these intra-day violations are invisible.
How to Use It (Step-by-Step)
Export Your Trade History
Download your trade history as CSV from your broker/platform. You need: date, instrument (optional), P&L amount, and running balance.
Upload to Drawdown Replay
Click "Upload CSV" and select your file. The tool auto-detects column headers and previews the data.
Select Firm Rules
Choose a prop firm to overlay its drawdown rules, or enter custom max drawdown, daily drawdown, and account size.
Watch the Replay
Click play. The equity curve animates trade by trade with max drawdown and daily drawdown limit lines. Red zones show danger areas.
Analyze the Results
After replay, review the summary: peak drawdown reached, closest daily limit breach, number of danger-zone days, and pass/fail verdict.
Pro Tips
Replay at least 3 months of data for meaningful results. 1 month isn't enough to capture losing streaks.
Try replaying with 90% of your actual lot sizes — if you still pass, that's your safety margin.
Export your demo account history weekly and replay it. This builds the feedback loop before you go live.
Pay special attention to post-news and Monday-morning equity spikes — these are common drawdown breach points.
If you fail the replay, identify the specific trades that caused the breach and ask: "Would I take this trade again knowing the risk?"
Frequently Asked Questions
Save This Guide as PDF
Download the complete Drawdown Replay guide to reference offline. Includes all steps, tips, and warnings.