Photo - Taylor Lanning
By Ryan Segal
January started with the ultimate test for any aspiring Pro Tour Player - Q-School.
We had a plethora of players who went straight into Stage 2, and they were joined a handful of qualifiers from Stage 1, to form a strong Unicorn collective in the battle for a Tour Card - both in the UK and EU stagings.
In the UK, Tom Sykes and Charlie Manby joined the top table for the first time, whilst in the EU, Jeffrey de Zwaan secured his return to the tour after a year away.
We're delighted for you all, and we can't wait to see what you achieve over the next two years.
Whilst Q-School was occurring in Milton Keynes, we welcomed Gary Anderson and Premier Darts to our HQ in Nottingham, along with some very lucky competition winners.
They got a tour of where we call home, and the chance to meet and greet, as well as play, The Flying Scotsman.
Unsurprisingly, no-one could beat him - including yours truly.
We then put on our party hats to celebrate Ross Smith's birthday, as our Smudger turned 37.
Eyes then turned from Kent to the Middle East, as Motomu Sakai took part in the Bahrain Darts Masters and Saudi Darts Masters.
Darts' most lovable character showed what he was about on the World Series Stage, putting in two solid displays - and another legendary walk on in Riyadh.
We then announced our record-breaking partnership with University Darts UK, renewing our long-term alliance on an even grander scale - something very worth keeping your eyes on.
It was then birthday time once more, as Greg Ritchie turned 31 years old.
We then had our product drop of 2026, launching:
A new Eclipse Ultra 2.0 Surround - The perfect accompaniment to the best board on the market.
And three new player sets of players darts - with Ross Smith, Cameron Menzies, and Callan Rydz all receiving brass darts in the style of their match darts - A perfect way for players beginning their journeys to emulate their heroes.
Just a few weeks on from Q-School, the gaze of the darting world returned to Milton Keynes, as qualifiers for the World Masters beckoned talent from all corners of the darting stratosphere.
The Top 8 qualified, and despite Owen Bates and Henry Coates making it to the L32, no members of Team Unicorn were able to join the three already in the tournament.
Those three being the aforementioned Smith, Gary Anderson, and James Wade.
Our terrific trio all got off to winning starts, with Gary and James both winning 3-2, against Niels Zonneveld and Madars Razma respectively.
Ross Smith made it 3/3 in the L32, defying a spirited TV debut from Jimmy van Schie to win 3-1.
In the L16, Gary and James locked horns - and despite Gary racing into a 2-0 lead, The Machine came back to win 4-3 - a first win over The Flying Scotsman in eight PDC meetings.
Ross joined Gary in heading home after R2, adding another file to the 'ton plus average in defeat to Littler' folder.
James departed in his Quarter-Final, losing to Gian van Veen in a game that flowed beautifully, despite the result.
Going into February, we've got action at all levels of the PDC to look forward to - make sure you're following Unicorn for all the updates as they happen.