PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf assesses the top ten PDC stars - based on their last 200 legs played - ahead of this weekend's Czech Darts Open.
#1 Averages - Gary Anderson
#1 OChE - Michael van Gerwen
#1 Doubles - Michael van Gerwen
#1 171-180 - Dirk van Duijvenbode
#1 99, 101+ Checkout - Michael van Gerwen
This weekend, Mike De Decker awakens from his dream - realised by winning one of the PDC's most prestigious tournaments - and returns to the European Tour for a first-round match on Friday, still ranked in the mid-20s on both the overall and ProTour Orders of Merit.
But these rankings underrate the capabilities of this player who outsmarted the World Champion on stage in Leicester; on the basis of his last 200 legs (including World Grand Prix legs, with adjustments made for equivalency with normal 501 games) De Decker is a top-ten player.
96.77 averages put him ahead of Luke Littler for tenth place among PDC Tour Card Holders - not even his best rank in 2024.
The 16 maxima he threw in Sunday's final helped him amass the ninth highest total of 180s, and having taken 25 legs off Humphries, the Belgian is playing at a pace that would win him 57.9% of legs on the ProTour.
The competition at the highest levels of the PDC is intense, but sustained stats along these lines from De Decker will ensure that when the time comes to defend his title in 2025, he will do so as an automatic, top-16 Order of Merit qualifier.
Michael van Gerwen's performance in Players Championship 27 was an ideal recovery from a disastrous World Grand Prix campaign in which the six-time former champion of that event failed to win a single leg.
Yet MvG's stat lines were uncharacteristic for a player known for high scoring and ruthless demolitions of opponents.
With only 19 maxima in 72 legs and no match averages above 100, MvG now ranks 26th in the PDC for maxima thrown and his 200-leg average declined over the past two weeks.
However, the 'Green Machine' sits on top of the PDC in terms of his checkout efficiency, ahead of Gary Anderson, whose averages exceed his by more than three points.
This is because Van Gerwen's doubles percentage - once a weak point in his game - has been remedied to the point where he is completing a majority of his checkouts and leading the PDC in ton-plus finishes.
Even in an 87-average loss the day after claiming his fourth title of the year, Van Gerwen still hit two of his three attempts at double.
While this new MvG form does not break any records or make for viral social media content, it is surprisingly effective in winning legs and titles.
The two most improved players of the first half of October - Nathan Aspinall and Ryan Joyce - fought nearly to a draw at the World Grand Prix, contesting 24 out of a possible 25 legs and both missing match darts before Joyce gained the victory in a deciding leg.
Joyce, who also finished masterfully in an upset victory over Rob Cross at the World Grand Prix, has been one of the PDC's top double hitters for the whole of 2024, and improved his averages by more than two points.
Aspinall, who leapt from 29th to ninth in averages, produced the equivalent of a 99 average (in straight start) over 24 legs in his loss to Joyce. Neither player has won a title yet in 2024, but on a trajectory such as this, a win can't be far away.
When Wesley Plaisier came to the attention of PDC fans in July, he reached two consecutive ProTour finals; this past week his promise of ProTour glory was fulfilled in claiming a first PDC ranking title in Wigan.
Plaisier does not currently hold a Tour Card but is within £25,000 of claiming one outright; his title notwithstanding, the Dutchman has the form, the scoring and the efficiency to be a solid performer on the ProTour.
If Plaisier were ranked in the Form Guide, he would have the 19th highest OChE rating, indicating that he would win 55% of his legs in future Players Championship events.
Plaisier is in good company in winning a title without a Tour Card; he joins Joe Murnan, Scott Williams - a World Championship semi-finalist - and Krzysztof Ratajski, winner of ten PDC titles, in an exclusive club of players with obvious talent and long-term promise as professionals.
*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