You're absolutely right, kiki, but her plan would've worked 100% last tribal, as Sue/Conner/Kate were willing to get rid of Kristie.
But when Kristie was spared, the damage was already done and Kristie had so much more time to catch on the lies. :/
It was actually easy for Kristie to throw Phoebe under the bus and save herself, because Phoebe is the obvious bigger threat and this time they were expecting the merge more and not looking at physical strength as much.
Bottom line is, I'm so sad about the horrible twist(s) turning Survivor into BB-like luck game.