"All the things posted about Russell were true, but that doesn't change the fact that he HAD to play the idol or go home so that's why I'm unimpressed." Yes, the play itself was not impressice. What impressed me was being able to find the idol, not to mention bothering to look for it in the first place. Once he had it, the rest was elementary.
"John was an idiot. If he 'does the math' that he was so fond of, he would have realized the odds the purple rock was giving him were the clear best."
There's a reason a purple-rock tie has only happened once. Odds or no odds, nobody wants to go out like that. Once in a while, players will gain leverage by pretending they don't care. Rob and Amber used it to turn Jenna, and Ian used it to oust Greg, as I recall. None of them actually wanted to go through with it, I'll bet. I don't blame John for being just like everyone who ever played the game. Especially since he wasn't like the traitors to whom you allude. His ouster was a matter of happenstance, as I don't think it was editing slight-of-hand that Dave was next to go.
"True, Tom was in the same boat as Russell. I'm not saying HIS play of the idol was impressive. What I am saying is JT's use of the idol WAS. Did JT not tell Tom to use his idol? Yes."
I think it was more a matter of he knew Tom was going to play it anyway. So I guess you could say he used Tom's idol by proxy.
"I disagree that Yul's use was not creative as well. He went to the exact right person and told them join us or you're gone. He used the idol's power without ever even having to play it. I'm not sure how you can do better than that."
Yul went to the right person, yes. But whether Penner turned because of the idol, because of Yul's persuasion, or for other reasons is unclear to me. It all depends on whether or not his subsequent attitude that he had thrown the game away for a noble cause was an after-the-fact rationalization.
At best, I can say the idol was necessary but not sufficient for Jonathan's flip. There were two other, interrelated, factors. First, he liked Yul, felt Yul was the only other person who spoke his strategic language, or whatever. Therefore, he felt he was in a better position to win if he was on Yul's side. Second, he hated his own alliance and felt strongly enough about their unworthiness to give up the game in order to give Yul's side a chance to win. Whatever slot you place the idol, his respect for Yul, and his hatred of Candice/Parvati/Adam, respectively, in the hierarchy of his decision, one thing is clear: it was not the idol alone.
Finally, the reason people hold back credit from Yul? It's pretty unanimous that the idol was too powerful in his day. That's why they changed the rules so that you had to play it before the votes were read.