PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf assesses the top ten PDC stars - based on their last 200 legs played - ahead of the 2025 Betfred World Matchplay.
#1 Averages - Luke Littler
#1 OChE - Josh Rock
#1 Doubles - Damon Heta
#1 171-180 - Chris Dobey
#1 99, 101+ Checkout - James Wade
All five statistical categories have different men in the lead, marking the first time the Form Guide has displayed such a diversity of talent sharing these plaudits and setting the stage for a less certain path to the title for any one player.
Much to his chagrin, Luke Humphries' campaign to defend his World Matchplay title begins with a belter of a match - a long-form duel with World Youth Champion and #2 player on checkout form - Gian van Veen.
Over his last 200 legs, the rising Dutch star has hit 49% of his doubles, more than six points ahead of the 2023/24 World Champion.
This should not trouble Humphries unduly, as he still has a lead of 1.7 points in both averages and OChE rating to counter that advantage.
However, Humphries' form is on the decline; he is averaging three points less in July than he was in June on the back of a disappointing 91-average campaign in Kiel, where he lost 6-3 to Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals.
Van Veen, meanwhile, is playing a much more efficient game than his 96 average would indicate.
On current form he is winning more legs than half of this year’s Premier League field; no opponent from the ProTour qualification list would pose a more serious challenge than he.
No player boosted his CV for the World Matchplay than the man who won the tournament when its current #2 seed was an infant: James Wade.
Having won Players Championship 19 - defeating Van Veen and Peter Wright along the way - and making a semi-final run at the Baltic Sea Darts Open, Wade has inserted himself into tournament contention more often this summer, and in so doing has made a huge stride toward the top of the Form Guide.
Wade's OChE rating is now 12th highest in the PDC, and 'The Machine' hits his target 46% of the time when attempting doubles: a fearsome combination of efficiency and clinical finishing (he also leads the PDC in ton-plus finishes) which belies his relatively low output of trebles.
Wade will begin the the 2025 World Matchplay as a colossal form favourite against Joe Cullen, over whom Wade enjoys a five-point advantage in averages.
On current form, the most clearly endangered seeded player appears to be Rob Cross, who faces another tough draw after fighting Van Veen to a deciding leg in last year's Blackpool festivities.
Cross has fallen to the 22nd highest OChE rating amongst Tour Card Holders, and is in the bottom half of players in terms of doubles accuracy at an inopportune time.
His first-round challenger Dirk van Duijvenbode has a 97 average and has fired off 88 maxima in his last 200 legs (two more than Luke Littler).
Against average ProTour players, Van Duijvenbode would expect to win three more legs out of 100 than Cross, and against all opponents Van Duijvenbode is three times more likely to complete a 12-dart leg.
Yet even if Van Duijvenbode does pull off the upset, he may eventually face Luke Littler in a best-of-31 quarter-final, with no form advantage on his side.
Though it came too late to earn him a debut appearance in Blackpool, Bradley Brooks' first PDC title represents a major breakthrough in form for the former World Youth Champion.
Demolishing two of the top 10 form players along the way to winning Players Championship 21, Brooks is now a top-16 player in checkout efficiency, a top-five player on finishes, and firing off maxima at a rate comparable to that of Dave Chisnall - a dramatic leap up the rankings from June.
The PDC elite will enjoy a reprieve from facing Brooks in the World Matchplay, but confronting this young talent suddenly appears much more daunting than it ever has.
*OChE (Ordinal Checkout Efficiency) explained:
OChE is a metric designed to evaluate the efficiency at which players convert their averages into legs won.
The statistic is the % of legs a player would expect to win on the ProTour, calculated from a weighted average of 4,5, 6 & 7 visit checkout rates.
Follow Christopher on Twitter @ochepedia