alliances have def helped me, but they pretty much have no effect in tengaged survivor
but you have to ally with the friendly people more than the strategic people cuz they will stab you in the back, unlike the friendly people
be sure to ally with REALLY GOOD people that EXCELL in challenges cuz chances are they'll never be nominated so you won't be going against them :P
I think that if someone offers you an alliance then it is a good idea to accept it, but if no one offers you an alliance then there's no need to worry about it. As long as you're pretty active, do pretty well in the competitions and get a few keys you won't be nommed and shouldn't need to worry about an alliance. So I would say if there's an alliance on the table go for it, but you don't strictly need an alliance in casting games. :)
