Don't you use +3 plate with 30+ str?
And you try tell me that isn't the reason you beat most people in melee?
I sometimes play with my 1h STF without any loom, and I still get top scoreboard on EU1. So no, it isn't the reason why I beat most people in melee.
There are other players, such as Butan, who are shit when it comes to combat reflexes, and yet are a true challenge in melee because they are great at getting the hits to pass the defense of the enemy, and so are most powerful with a str build.
It all depends on playstyle.
It's not because you are "good at strength builds" it is because they are fucking easy to play and any semi competent player can use them and do better than they would with normal builds.
On duel server,i've seen average players who got sliced to death in medium armor, then they got a big armor and lots of str with an alt and didn't even hit once. It merely took more hits to take them down. After that, they remember why they don't go for that build. You should try.
He beats them with his superior technique, not his lame ass build!
Here's a good example of his superior technique aka scrubbed in round 2 on native:
Hey Vibe, nice to see you can talk after all, you were so quiet on nditions while I sliced your spasmatic ass. Doesn't matter, I never pretended to be good at native anyway, I'm not used to playing an agi-based character anymore.