The World Matchplay was a tournament dominated by Phil Taylor as - from 1994 to 2014 - he picked up 15 wins in Blackpool out of a possible 21. Yes, you read that correctly.
Taylor had control of the Winter Gardens for nearly two decades, making going back-to-back look like light work.
He bossed the Blackpool stage and it appeared as if defending the title at such a tournament was a simple ask. He dominated so much that, after he retired, the trophy was named after him.
Then, along came Michael van Gerwen who continued the trend.
The Dutchman secured Matchplay supremacy in 2015 and 2016, beating James Wade then Taylor himself to make it a double at the seaside.
MVG's accolades heading into both of those tournaments made incredible reading.
Going into the 2015 Matchplay he held the World Grand Prix, European Championship, Masters and UK Open crowns.
Then, going into the 2016 Matchplay, he possessed the World Matchplay, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals, Masters, UK Open and Premier League titles.
He was also world No 1 on both occasions and won a ridiculous 11 Euro Tour events out of 18 across 2015 and 2016.
While Matchplay dominance had looked a certainty, it was a trend that was then quickly bucked because Van Gerwen only managed it once despite his dominance during the late 2010s and Luke Humphries failed at the first hurdle, a smattering of winners coming in the interlude between two players on top.
The current champion is world No 1 Luke Littler who also boasts the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals, World Championship, World Masters, UK Open, Premier League and World Cup titles.
Similarly to Littler, Van Gerwen was untouchable as the best player in the world. His one downfall? He did not win the World Darts Championship on either occasion in 2015 or 2016 before triumphing again in 2017.
Littler has won the last two World Championships and is now looking to become the first player in a decade to retain the Matchplay title and tick off another bit of history.
Littler beat Niko Springer 10-6 in his first round match, averaging 109.53 and hitting seven 180s in the contest, but faces a significantly tougher test against World No 16 Nathan Aspinall in round two.
How the Matchplay goes literally decides the trajectory of Littler's year. If he retains, he continues his aim of a clean sweep. He fails? Then how many tournaments he enters for the remainder of 2026 radically changes.
Littler did what Van Gerwen did not when he claimed World Darts Championship wins two years in a row.
"If I could choose, I would swap all the other tournaments I won for this one. It's the most important one and I'm going to try and get my title back, but the standard is so high you're not allowed to make any mistakes," Van Gerwen said in November 2015 ahead of the Worlds.
Littler does not have to swap any silverware for the Sid Waddell Trophy as he retained the crown.
It is now time to show he can do it again on the Matchplay stage too.
Your Site News' Michael Bridge...
"He will be on the ball, no doubt about it. He hasn't played much lately, he's obviously been in America for the World Series, he's been doing a lot of PR events, but we know he's not being part of the EuroTour at the moment.
"There are still question marks whether he'll do any Pro Tours at all. I think he might change his mind if he wins the Matchplay because he will want to win everything.
"I know people in his team are denying that, but I think he will go for it if he wins the Matchplay.
"We know Luke, we know that when there is a goal, he is so incredibly driven.
"There has been a suggestion to me that it's too late for him to get to Minehead, but there is definitely time. There is plenty of time.
"But if he does win this, then I think it could propel him to maybe go to Minehead."
The World Matchplay commences on Saturday July 18 and ends on Sunday July 26.
All nine days of the event will be shown live on Your Site, with coverage of the opening day commencing on Your Site+ at 7pm
