> The upvotes is like fuel to lift your position and the time since submission is like gravity to pull you down. To get on frontpage, you have to get as many upvotes as possible shortly after submission. And to keep your place, you have to get upvotes continuously.

> Getting on the front page is too random.

So in other words, getting to the front page is hard because you don't know your delta-V and TWR before launch, and the cheaters are the ones who are able to secure an estimate for those parameters.

#ObscureSpaceflightReference