So there are 8 guides already and I am now adding a 9th to the list, that probably no one will read anyway
. Those other guides give good input, but none in my opinion describes the overall strategy to win, so here are my 2 cents after currently 37 wins in the Eliminator out of 273 times played:
1. The really crucial point in my opinion is to constantly adjust the risk you are taking depending on what car you are in, what time is left and how you expect the final race to go.
2. Your first goal is to find a good car drop and quickly. By good I mean anything from level 4 up. 4 is tough but fine, 5 is ok, 6 is really great and with 7 you should easily be in a level 10 car once the final showdown starts.
3. So do not waste time driving around looking for car drops if you are already in a level 5 car. You are wasting time you need for head to heads to upgrade your car. Yes you might be lucky to find that l8/l9/l10 car drop, but chances are very slim. In 273 games played I have never seen a l10 drop and only once an l9. l8 and l7 also don‘t happen very often. So your best bet is to get into an l4+ car and start hunting down others and upgrading.
4. Keep in mind that your remaining opponents are also upgrading their cars, so time is of the essence. If you are in an l5 car at the beginning then you can go hunting down others, but if you are just wasting your time looking for better car drops, that you probably don‘t find, then once you are in the final circle you will be the prey.
5. Yes it is possible to win in a lower level car, but only if your opponents all suck and/or are also all in low level cars, and chances for that are also slim. If you really want to try that strategy hiding until the final circle and then trying to win in a low level car, then your best bet is when the final circle is on top of the volcano. Go to the southmost point in the circle within the aisle that comes up to the mountain from the south. If your opponents are all busy doing head to heads on the top of the volcano and you are lucky you are the only one there and get a good head start. I once won in the l4 BMW there easily.
6. By all means do not do any l1 Beetle vs. l1 Beetle head to heads in the beginning. Trying to get to l10 with 9 eliminations is just as pointless as looking for car drops all the time.
7. So once again: first quickly look for car drops l4+, then immediately start with the head to heads. If you can‘t find a good car drop in the beginning your best bet might be to hide until the circle has narrowed the first time, but it will be tougher afterwards.
8. As said in the beginning constantly adjust the risks you are taking depending on the time left and the situation. Let‘s say you are in the pretty quick, but poor handling l7 Ferrari, you are running out of time, but you can see that the final race will probably take place on the highway. Then it might be a good idea to just stay in the Ferrari. Same situation, but you are in the l9 Focus instead, then you probably want to take the risk of a head to head as the l9 Focus has poor top speed compared to other l9 and l10 cars, but you probably have pretty good chances winning a head to head with this car in the final circle.
9. The final circle: your main goal is to set yourself up (i.e. position yourself) for the final race. Once the circle is shrinking for the last time and about halfway narrowed you can just ignore any head to heads, as they will be cancelled before they can be completed. Instead you can try trolling others into head to heads, especially opponents in high level cars. Timed well and if they are not smart to ignore the head to head they will end up in a bad position for the final race and you have one opponent less to worry about.
You yourself should wait about 50-100m from the border of the circle, facing the direction you think the race will go. Start accelerating before the countdown ends, so that you will leave the circle with about 3 seconds left, but not more than 4 seconds, otherwise you will get eliminated by the arena (and only do this if you have a clean timeout until then - if you had been outside the circle before that, then do not leave the final circle before the countdown ends as you might get eliminated by the arena instantly).
10. Don‘t blindly race directly towards the goal, but briefly look at the map. It is nuts to go offroad all the time if the finish line is 200m next to the highway.
11. Generally always consider what the best route may be, always considering the current situation. If you are in a head to head in a better car and ahead and there are trees in front of you, which can be avoided with a small detour, then drive around the trees. But if you are behind in a slower car you might want to risk going through those trees full speed. Your decisions will also be based in the car you are in. e.g. if you sit in the l8 Camaro, then try to take as many roads as possible, even if the path is a little longer.
12. Everything is allowed, so play dirty if it helps. Here are a few things you can do: if you are about to initiate a head to head and your car is better than your opponent‘s but you are unsure where the race will go, then ram him first and stay by his side before you press the horn. This way you make sure that he doesn‘t get a head start if the route would otherwise be in the wrong direction for you.
If you are in the situation where for some reason you are going towards the outside of the circle and an opponent comes straight at you from the outside and is about to challenge you, then go straight at him and ram him, so that he comes to a full stop. Otherwise you are as good as dead, especially in a short race in the final circle.
In the final circle if someone sits too close to the border (and annoys you because he sits in a better car than you and is also well positioned for the final race) you can also try to push him out of the circle. In the final circle the timeout is only 4 seconds, so it might be possible to get him eliminated by the arena or at least get him to lose his focus on the final race.
Other strategies might involve ramming well prepared opponents in fast but poor handling cars from the side before initiating head to heads in the final circle. e.g. a few days ago I was in the l7 Mercedes in the final circle and pretty desperate to upgrade, before the race starts. And there was this l10 Funco sitting there patiently, facing in the right direction, just waiting for anyone to come close to him. So I rammed him from the side and initiated the head to head, which was enough to win in a usually short final circle race (the Funco is unwilling to go around a corner, but a deadly weapon in a long offroad race, that goes straight ahead for most of the time, therefore a very good choice for the final race).
13. One thing to remember if you are so lucky to get into an l10 car and considering additional head to heads: if you are in an l10 car and win a head to head, then the game will always offer you the Funco as upgrade, and if you are in the Funco already then the Centenario. You will never get the RS200, the Brocky or the AMG this way, they can only be obtained by either getting them offered when you first upgrade to l10, or if you beat an opponent that has it. So don‘t start a head to head with the hope of getting the RS200, Brocky or AMG if you sit in an l10 car already.
14. You do not need to familiarize yourself with the whole map, but there are a few locations that I recommend knowing well: the area around the stadium, where I recommend going diectly *through* the stadium if a head to head seems to go around it; the temple airstrip (if it is not much of a detour I recommend going around it, but still you should know where best to pass through it); the area around Mulege and the jungle area around the airstrip to the south; Sierra Verde dam - unless it is dry season you cannot pass through the water but need to go around, the area where you cannot go through is between the dam and the next bridge to the east.
15. When picking a place to start remember that your car will always face to the east. So if you have some place where you think a car drop might happen frequently, then place the car slightly west of it, then the car drop will be straight in front of you when the game starts (and a car really drops there). Personally I like to start east of the stadium as there can be a car drop outside there and there are 3 potential car drops inside (be aware that opponents starting right beside the south or north entrance might be at the drops quicker, they have no potential drops outside though).
Good luck!
Here one example, not my best game and I had quite a streak of miserable games before that, but still a good example of what I mean: got the l6 Nomad and then upgraded as quickly as possible to l10 with head to heads (I would have liked to play it more safely when I got the l9 Escort, but the head to head against that l9 Trackhawk was unavoidable). When I got the RS200 I tried to avoid any more head to heads (although that l8 Camaro would have had slim chances in this terrain, but still it‘s kinda random in this area with all the trees) but concentrated to get a good position for the final race.
Knowing the map also helped in that race against the Levante (tbh I had relearnt the map in the head to head against the l3 Ford just before that, where I should have stayed more to the north at the lake area).