Hi @ddmortman
interesting question and you are right, but also alot of articles " Best Strains 2021 " could be or marketing purposes! I think you can look at large reputable websites like Weedmaps and
Leafly and get better examples of what is a trending strain. They use their data to work out the top strains of the year so its closer to the truth.
Take for instance Leafly mentioning Oklahoma’s( @Slym3r ) 2021 obsession with White Widow. They say Gelato a favorite in 2019/2020 lost ground to other strains like Wedding Cake, Runtz, Sour Tangie, Kush Mintz etc.