I appreciate your opinion, however you guys are forgetting a BIG part of this game: public support.
Honestly, it doesn't really matter how hard you play, it matter who you make final 3 with and who you get nominated with.
I knew that I wasn't really that known, so I made sure to align myself with people that I thought I could beat, when I got nommed with snix, I knew that we had similar friend groups, so I wasn't as nervous. I also knew that I knew our mutual friends longer, so that means that he would have less "guaranteed saves" so to speak.
Surviving for 7th, was just a huge suprise, so I can't speak to that, BUT, upon surviving I knew that I needed to make finals WITHOUT another nomination.
Also, I needed to make finals with people who were very similar to each other, but different to me. Quackerz and bigupboy were the ideal final 3 to me because they both have played stars 10+ times, without much success. So out of the ones who didn't know any of us, the ones who would tend to vote for the ones who are "overdue" for a stars win, would split their votes among two players instead of all voting for the same one, making it easier for them to have a lower final percentage than me.
Also, I was worries that Joey was going to be a popularity threat, so I lied in my vlog saying that he didn't deserve it. That sparked him to blog about me, hating on me, and made him look bitter to the public.
At the end of the day, it's about what the public perceives, and we all got nominated twice. It's important to play strategically, but that'll only get you the win if you go unnommed, OR if you have 1 nomination while the others have 2/3. I made sure that wasn't the case :)
I appreciate your opinion, however you guys are forgetting a BIG part of this game: public support.