here's the thing... you have to make a decision: are you playing as an income source or for enjoyment?

you say you want to play to win, which is all well and good, but the style of play that will win you the most STTs may not be the most "fun." to be honest, the first 3-4 levels of your tournament may in fact be boring, with you potentially playing fewer than 4 hands.

i'm not saying that there aren't ranges of approaches to win STTs, but i think the general consensus here is that there is certainly one approach that works exceedingly well, which at the lower buy-ins, is a more mechanical approach: tight early, aggressive late.

if that's not your bag, maybe try other games? PLO is good times.