Thirteen months ago, many considered Gary Anderson to be the best player in the world. An injury-ravaged year filled with inconsistent form followed - but can he still pack a punch at the Alexandra Palace?
The Flying Scotsman is no stranger to the Ally Pally stage, twice winning the Sid Waddell trophy in the last decade while also reaching the final on two other occasions.
However, things have not quite been right for the 48-year-old in 2019. Since his 6-1 World Championship semi-final loss to Michael van Gerwen last year, things have gone south.
He was forced to pull out of the Premier League due to a persistent back injury.
His return was underwhelming, failing to deliver at the big TV tournaments throughout the year. A World Cup title with Peter Wright was a welcome boost, but in truth he has failed to build on it.
Last month at the Grand Slam, there were signs he was getting back to his best when he stormed into the quarter-final in Wolverhampton. However, he became unstuck when he was hammered by a rampant Gerwyn Price - although the Welshman's subsequent performances have slapped contextual hindsight on that loss.
So which Gary Anderson will turn up at the Ally Pally?
"He hasn't had a lot of game time," noted Mark Webster. "We were looking at the odds and he's 25/1 at the minute. That is a good price because Gary Anderson always does OK here [the Alexandra Palace].
"Whether he's going to win it, I don't know. It's a big ask but it is worth a little punt at 25/1 isn't it, on the two-time former world champion, the World Matchplay champion.
"He is getting better. He did say at the Grand Slam that he's getting there. He said that to me personally. Hopefully it just clicks into gear this year because we want to see the best Gary Anderson - that is for sure.
"He's a naturally gifted player. He will have done quite a lot of practice in the build-up to here and hopefully it all goes right for him when he's here."
First up is a meeting with Brendan Dolan, who comfortably overcame Nitin Kumar in Sunday's first-round game. The 'History Maker' is no slouch, and having reached the quarter-final last year, the Northern Irishman will be confident of sending the fifth seed packing.
"Brendan Dolan is nobody's ideal opponent," warned Webster.
"He's hard to play against. Gary's been beaten by him at the World Grand Prix, he has beaten him at the World Championships before but Brendan is not the ideal opponent when you haven't had many games.
"That's a tough test for Gary but that will see where he's at. He's not going to ease his way into the competition. He's going to have to perform from the first round.
"[Anderson's form] is a little bit indifferent. In the Grand Slam he performed well in the group stage, he lost to Darren Webster in the last game but he was already through.
"He got through the next round then it was that clash with Gerwyn Price. Gerwyn just had too much for him. Gary started too slowly. You can't go 5-0 down against the top players in the game and expect to come back.
"He will have known that and he was quite positive afterwards really. It was just one of them. He's got to move on, he was happy enough. If he's in a happy place I am sure his darts will do the talking but that will be a tough game if Brendan comes through that first round."
If Anderson turns up firing on all cylinders, nobody doubts he could go all the way and claim his third title. But given his turbulent season thus far, it may need to be seen to be believed.
Coverage of the PDC World Championship continues on Monday evening on Sky Sports Darts from 7pm and the action continues through to the final on New Year's Day. If you are out and about you can follow with regular updates, clips, features & reports at skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and @SkySportsDarts