Had to brag just a little. Won my first contest last weekend. I'm particularly proud because the rub and sauce were both homemade.
One new trick I tried was to buy some mini loaf pans, the kind you bake cornbread in so it comes out looking like a little loaf of bread. I put a generous amount of rub in the bottom and then cooked the thighs skin-side down in the pans in the smoker for the first hour, then turned them out of the pans and finished them skin-side up. This gave them the uniform shape, which helped them cook very evenly and made a nice presentation.