The 2010’s is a darting era close to (or maybe surpassing) the 1980’s in terms of both popularity and number of all-time great darts players competing at the same time.
Phil Taylor dominated the 2000’s winning 76% of all PDC major tournaments but the 2010’s had a shifting tide.
There were still some DOMINANT periods for certain players but for the decade as a whole, we got to see multiple battles taking place from some of the best players to ever step foot at the oche.
Below we’ve ranked the 8 best darts players from the 2010’s…
SEE MORE RANKING LISTS ON DECENT DARTS
👉 7 darts players who should have won more
👉 10 highest earning darts players from the 2000’s
Best Darts Players From The 2010’s
8) Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price was a former professional rugby player but ended that career in 2014 to pursue another sporting profession – darts.
It’s fair to say that it was a successful switch with the Welshman becoming a World Champion in 2021.
With most of his success coming in the 2020’s, Price would still finish the 2010’s as one of the best players in darts at the time.
Despite turning professional in 2014, Price didn’t have much success during his initial years.
A quarter-final run at the 2015 World Matchplay was unexpected and his first professional title didn’t come until 2016 at Players Championship 7.
He made it to the final of the 2017 UK Open and that seemed to be the catalyst for the Iceman. In 2018 he went to the quarter-final of four major tournaments alongside winning the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts.
He followed that up with more runner-up finishes at the 2019 European Championship and 2019 Players Championship FInals whilst winning the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts for the second consecutive year.
Up to third in the rankings, Price finished the decade as one of the top players and while he hadn’t won as much as others on this list he was still more successful than a lot more established players during that same era.
7) Peter Wright
From 2014-2019, Peter Wright made it to an incredible 13 PDC major finals, however, the Scotsman would win just a single title at the 2017 UK Open.
From 2020-2023 he went to a further 8 PDC major finals but this time he won 7 of them including becoming a 2 x World Champion.
His best era has undoubtedly been the most recent one but during the 2010’s, Wright was still comfortably one of the best players around.
Wright unexpectedly made it to the final of the 2014 World Championship which was his first PDC major final.
He’d lose 7-4 to Michael van Gerwen but by the end of that year he was ranked inside the top 6 in the PDC order of merit and would maintain this position for the rest of the decade.
The dozen runner-up finishes could have seen him compete with Terry Jenkis as one of darts nearly men but 9 of his finals losses came at the hands of MVG, a player he just couldn’t get past in the 2010’s…
As mentioned though, he’d eventually go on to see significant success and his consistency over the last 15 years as a Tour Card holder sees Wright as the third highest earning darts player of all time.
6) Rob Cross
Between 2010-2019, the PDC World Championship was shared multiple times by just four players. The only player outside of this quartet to lift the title was the surprise 2018 winner, Rob Cross.
We were unsure of whether or not to include Voltage on this list because he only earned his tour card in 2017, but when you look at his achievements in such a short period of time, he more than justifies his place…
In his first year on the Tour, Cross made it to the final of the 2017 European Championship and the semi-final of the 2017 Players Championship Finals. This was alongside 4 x ProTour titles that same year.
It was a breakout season but no-one could have predicted what would come next when he made it to the 2018 World Championship final and beat Phil Taylor in his last ever tournament as a professional.
It was an underdog win for sure having also dispatched reigning champion Michael van Gerwen in the semi’s, though it was far from a fluke.
Cross would go on to win the World Matchplay and the European Championship the following year whilst also making it to the final of the UK Open and Premier League.
He may have been a late entrant to 2010 darts but he more than made his mark on the game during that era!
5) James Wade
James Wade is widely considered to be the greatest darts player to NEVER win a World Championship.
Despite this, he’s also one of the most successful darts players of all time in terms of titles. Only Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have won more than the Machine.
Wade has been very consistent across three decades in the game but most of his success came during the 2010’s.
He made it to 14 PDC major finals during this era and lifted 6 titles. It wasn’t just a few tournaments Wade favoured though, his wins came from:
- 2010 World Grand Prix
- 2010 Championship League
- 2011 UK Open
- 2014 Masters
- 2018 European Championship
- 2018 World Series of Darts Finals
Wade has also won the Premier League (x2) and World Matchplay whilst making it to the final of every major tournament format except the World Championship.
Despite not getting the largest prize money payout like most others on this list, Wade was consistently ranked inside the top 8 throughout the decade which not only showed his consistency but his success across the Tour.
SEE MORE JAMES WADE ON DECENT DARTS
👉 James Wade believes PDC would ‘find way to leave him out’ if he reaches top 4 in rankings
👉 “There’s a group of players that are looked after very, very well” – James Wade unexpected RANT at 2024 World Matchplay
4) Adrian Lewis
Adrian Lewis appeared on the darting scene in the 2000’s as the training partner to a then mentor Phil Taylor.
It’s unlikely that you’d end up being mentored by Phil Taylor without ability and Jackpot had it in abundance with many claiming he’s one of the most naturally talented darts players of all time.
In the 2010’s Lewis would add an end product to his raw talent. He’d been to a dozen late stages of PDC major tournaments in the latter part of the 2000’s but 2011 is where he would build his legacy.
Lewis won the 2011 PDC World Championship and became only the second player to go back-to-back in the PDC division by winning it again in 2012. He won the 2014 UK Open, 2013 European Championship and four World Cup of Darts titles alongside Phil Taylor.
Lewis also went to several major finals during this timeframe, unfortunately though, he didn’t have the longevity many would have expected or wanted from him.
Issues on and off the oche meant that Lewis fell away from the game and never made it to another final after 2015.
See related – Adrian Lewis thinks he should have won more in darts but didn’t have the right ‘mindset’
He was unplayable on his day but it just didn’t last long enough.
Fans haven’t forgotten what a prime Adrian Lewis was like though with many fans (and players) still calling for him to return to the professional game to this day.
If Lewis had the consistency of say James Wade who knows how much he could have won!
3) Gary Anderson
Like Lewis, Gary Anderson became a back-to-back World Champion in one of the toughest eras to achieve that feat.
Despite his fiery temper, the Scotsman is one of the most loved darts players and also one of the most successful.
Having made his first PDC major final at the 2010 UK Open, Anderson is perfectly positioned for this list as his era was very much the 2010’s…
19 PDC major finals, 8 PDC major titles and a two-time World Champion during this period.
Anderson had to compete against the likes of Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis, and James Wade but was still able to establish himself as one of the best players during this STACKED era.
He has one of the smoothest, most fluid throws of all time and was a joy to watch during his prime years.
Read more – Gary Anderson shows us how he throws darts [tutorial]
2) Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor is the greatest darts player of all time. He was first in the PDC rankings in 1995 and first in the PDC rankings in 2013.
His dominance spanned multiple darting eras and decades and it’s hard to say when his actual prime years were – though in the very late 2000’s he won almost every major title over a two-year span.
With much higher levels of competition in the 2010’s (no offence to players of prior eras), Taylor was still incredibly successful by almost any standard.
SEE MORE PHIL TAYLOR ON DECENT DARTS
👉 6 RIDICULOUS Phil Taylor records that will never be broken
👉 Phil Taylor responds to ‘claims’ Luke Littler could break his darts records
In 2010, 2011 and 2013 ‘The Power’ was still winning the majority of PDC major tournaments and was a two-time World Champion during this era.
The World Champion number isn’t as impressive as what he managed during prior decades but his 27 major titles won during this period would still put him ahead of 99% of professional darts players.
Only James Wade and Michael van Gerwen won more across their entire careers than what Taylor won in the 2010’s alone.
That statistic shows how successful Taylor was even during the tail end of his career and before retiring he was still able to win the 2017 World Matchplay and make it to the final of the 2018 World Championship.
Sure this wasn’t his most dominant era in darts but 2010 and 2013 Taylor was still unstoppable and he’d have topped this list if it wasn’t for one player who hit their prime during the 2010’s…
1) Michael van Gerwen
Second only to Phil Taylor in terms of darts accomplishments, Michael van Gerwen took the title of most dominant player during the 2010’s and it looked like he could go on to maybe even surpass Taylor!
While that now seems unlikely, you can’t take away just how sensational MVG was during this era.
He went to 51 PDC major finals, won 41 of them and became a three-time World Champion.
Outside of major tournaments he also won dozens of titles across the ProTour and players have said he was the only player outside of Phil Taylor to have the ‘fear factor’ in darts.
Between 2015-2016 he was in 20 PDC major finals out of a possible 23 and won 16 of them.
This was during a period when Gary Anderson was the reigning world champion and Phil Taylor was still active.
MVG was almost unstoppable.
Like was said, he wasn’t able to sustain this type of relentless form but as the second most successful darts player of all time and the ONLY player to pass £10 million in career earnings, he was a true darting prodigy.
It would be hard to argue he was anything but the best darts player in the 2010’s.
Honourable mentions go to Glen Durrant and Scott Waites who were dominant forces in the BDO in the 2010’s. Durrant won three BDO World Championship titles with Waites securing a double.
Unfortunately, this decade was the ultimate decline and downfall for that organisation so it’s difficult to put these achievements ahead of PDC players during this same era.
Though Waites did also win the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts and Durrant won the 2020 Premier League so both had SOME success in the professional division…
Michael Smith also made it to 4 PDC major finals at the end of the decade including the 2019 PDC World Championship but his real success came in the 2020’s when he would go on to become World Champion in 2023.
Raymond van Barneveld also had some success in the 2010’s winning the 2012 Grand Slam of Darts and 2014 Premier League but his prime was the decade prior.
SEE MORE DECENT DARTS ‘BEST PLAYERS’ SERIES
➡️ 7 best darts players from the 1970’s
➡️ 7 best darts players from the 1980’s
➡️ 7 best darts players from the 1990’s
➡️ 8 best darts players from the 2000’s
If not already, make sure to follow Decent Darts on X or Facebook where we bring you daily darts content including news, quotes and quizzes that you won’t find on the site.