Does the VIX level influence whether traders sell at-the-money or out-of-the-money premium more aggressively when trading SPX Iron Condors?

At VixShield, we rely on Russell Clark's SPX Mastery methodology to guide every decision in our 1DTE SPX Iron Condor trades. The VIX level does significantly affect how aggressively we sell premium and how we select strikes, primarily through our VIX Risk Scaling framework and the RSAi signal engine. Our signals fire daily at 3:05 PM CST after the SPX close, delivering one of three risk tiers: Conservative targeting a $0.70 credit, Balanced at $1.15, or Aggressive at $1.60. When VIX sits below 15, all three tiers are available, allowing us to lean into higher credits with strikes placed further out-of-the-money according to EDR projections. This is the ideal environment for harvesting theta in a contango regime while our ALVH hedge layers remain fully active. As VIX climbs into the 15-20 range, as it has recently around 17.95, we restrict ourselves to Conservative and Balanced tiers only. The Aggressive tier is blocked because elevated volatility increases the probability of the underlying breaching our wings. In these conditions, RSAi adjusts strike selection to favor slightly closer out-of-the-money wings on the side showing less skew pressure, still targeting the appropriate credit without venturing near at-the-money levels. We never sell at-the-money premium in our Iron Condor Command; doing so would expose us to excessive gamma and vega risk on 1DTE expirations. Instead, EDR and RSAi guide us to out-of-the-money strikes that balance premium collection against the Expected Daily Range. For example, with current SPX at 7138.80 and VIX at 17.95, an Aggressive tier might target wings roughly 1.2 to 1.5 times the EDR away, while Conservative stays wider for its 90 percent win rate. Our Set and Forget approach means no stop losses or intraday adjustments. If a position is threatened, the Temporal Theta Martingale and Theta Time Shift mechanisms allow us to roll forward to capture vega expansion then roll back on VWAP pullbacks, turning most setbacks into net credit wins without adding capital. The ALVH provides our primary protection, layering VIX calls across short, medium, and long dated horizons in a 4/4/2 ratio to cut drawdowns during spikes. This combination keeps our overall win rate between 82 and 84 percent across backtested periods. All trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. To implement these rules consistently, we invite you to explore the full SPX Mastery book series and join our live sessions at VixShield.com.