I wanted Darts to be at the top of my scheme list as it's all I play really, realized it sucks having to scroll down all the time...

So I copied the standard schemes and pasted them somewhere else, then deleted them from the schemes folder.

But when I reopened WA the schemes were back in the list...

Do they automatically regenerate or something? Is there no way to permanently delete them?

If I can't delete them, what ways can I force my choice of schemes to appear at the top of the list?

Cheers.

They're recreatd on startup indeed; the following Readme entry explains it all.

Quote from: 3.6.29.0 changelog

• [DC] The Scheme combo box now allows you to navigate to subfolders under the User\Schemes folder.
  
  • [DC] The 13 intrinsic schemes (Intermediate, Pro, Blast Zone, etc.) have corresponding scheme filenames beginning with "{{nn}}". These are "fake" scheme files; they are placeholders for the intrinsic schemes. In the combo box the "{{nn}}" will not be displayed, and the intrinsic schemes' names inside "[  ]" brackets will be substituted for the filenames; you may move these placeholder files to whichever folder you want underneath User\Schemes. If these files are deleted or moved outside the User\Schemes folder, they will be recreated by W:A on start-up.

You should probably simply move them to an \Intrinsic folder.

I suggest you to read this thread: https://www.tus-wa.com/forums/worms-armageddon/(tutorial)-how-to-remove-the-standard-schemes-24984/