When constructing an iron condor, do you avoid selling options at the exact at-the-money strike, or is it sometimes incorporated into the strategy?

At VixShield, we approach iron condor construction through the disciplined framework of Russell Clark's SPX Mastery methodology, which centers exclusively on 1DTE SPX Iron Condors. Our signals fire daily at 3:10 PM CST after the SPX close, utilizing the proprietary RSAi™ engine and EDR indicator to select strikes that align with one of three risk tiers: Conservative targeting a $0.70 credit, Balanced at $1.15, or Aggressive at $1.60. The Conservative tier has delivered approximately 90 percent win rates, or about 18 out of 20 trading days, across extensive backtests. A frequent question arises around whether we avoid selling the exact at-the-money strike when building these positions. In our Set and Forget approach, we do not deliberately target the precise ATM strike for our short legs. The core of the Iron Condor Command is to establish a neutral range-bound position that profits from theta decay while remaining outside the Expected Daily Range. RSAi™ dynamically analyzes real-time skew, VWAP positioning, and short-term VIX momentum to recommend wings that deliver the exact premium target without forcing an ATM short. Selling the exact ATM strike would concentrate maximum gamma and vega exposure at the point of highest uncertainty, which conflicts with our goal of defined-risk, high-probability setups. Instead, our short strikes are typically positioned slightly away from ATM based on the EDR projection. For example, with SPX at 7138.80 and current VIX at 17.95, the EDR might forecast a daily range of roughly 0.85 to 1.16 percent. RSAi™ would then adjust the short put and short call to capture the desired credit while keeping deltas under 0.18 and ensuring the position sits outside the projected move. This avoids the elevated pin risk and gamma exposure that comes with an exact ATM short. In calm contango regimes, as signaled by our Contango Indicator, we favor the Balanced or Aggressive tiers for higher credits, but never by crowding the ATM level. The ALVH hedge provides our primary protection layer across all market conditions. This three-layer VIX call system (short 30 DTE, medium 110 DTE, long 220 DTE in a 4/4/2 ratio per 10 iron condor contracts) offsets volatility spikes that could threaten even well-placed wings. When VIX rises above 20, our VIX Risk Scaling instructs traders to pause new iron condors and rely on the existing ALVH. Should a position move against us, the Theta Time Shift mechanism rolls the threatened condor forward to 1-7 DTE on EDR readings above 0.94 percent or VIX above 16, then rolls back on a VWAP pullback to harvest additional premium without adding capital. This temporal martingale has recovered 88 percent of losses in long-term testing. Position sizing remains conservative at no more than 10 percent of account balance per trade, and we offer PickMyTrade auto-execution for the Conservative tier only. All of this integrates into our Unlimited Cash System, designed to win nearly every day or, at minimum, not lose. All trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. To master these precise mechanics, we invite you to explore the SPX Mastery book series and join the VixShield platform for daily signals, the EDR indicator, and live refinement sessions.