Jeez, I hate to see this kind of mudslinging on this site. Same team, guys! It's only the internet, for crying out loud. No reason to get personal.
Here's the skinny on looks:
Of course, looks matter to some degree, but they are not NEARLY as important as the OP suggests. Like most things in pickup, it depends on the context. If you are at a meat market-type dance club, they are going to be more important, because that's the sole criteria on which women can judge strangers in that environment. If you are at a yoga class, however, you won't have as much competition and you can "get away" with slightly below average looks, provided you can compensate for them with a compelling personality and game.
To assert that looks triumph every time is silly, because that would be far too easy. Guys would not waste their time creating great things and building empires to get girls; they'd go shopping for shoes and scour magazines for tips to elongate their figures. Worrying excessively about your appearance is a feminine trait, and such insecurities will turn women off.
There are a lot of factors at play when it comes to attraction, looks being but one of many. I've stolen girls from more attractive but dull guys, and had girls stolen from me by less attractive guys with exceptional social status. You can argue that a woman isn't really "attracted" to the wealthy CEO if he isn't physically handsome, but that's because you're projecting the male attraction triggers onto a female. If he's a powerful, masculine force, she will literally be OVERCOME with attraction for such a man. Think of a mob boss--you think they have trouble getting women? It's less to do with looks than with masculine/ feminine polarity.
Now, when the OP says that a woman PERSONALLY finds a below average guy attractive--this is sort of a case of backwards rationalization. In other words, she's attracted to him DESPITE his below average looks because of mitigating factors such as game, social status, etc. But, rather than acknowledge this, she'll say things like, "he has the prettiest eyes" or, "I love his smile." Really, it's a bit of courtesy--who wants their girlfriend to call them ugly? But yes, women will usually agree on the attractiveness of STRANGERS.
Looks matter the most for guys at the extremes of the bell curve- the exceptionally attractive and the exceptionally ugly. But, since they are in the extreme minority by definition, it's not really helpful to consider their plights on sites like this one. In general, the less attractive you are physically, the more you must compensate in other areas to stay competitive with the naturally attractive. But, this is not to say the good looking get a "free lunch." A lot of very good looking guys are so used to being approached that they NEVER learn to take the lead, and wind up settling for far less attractive girls. 6s and 7s will approach good looking men because it gives them an ego boost. HB10s will REQUIRE men to lead them, and attractive guys with little game will be filtered out.
Lastly, as far the Darwinian argument that women favor the strongest men: evolutionary needs have changed since the days of proto-humans, and the need for physically strong men is no longer as valuable as it once was. These days, the real estate mogul wields MUCH more social status than the construction worker he employs. You are welcome to argue that Donald Trump's hot wives are all just gold diggers (although most were already wealthy to begin with), but obviously they were attracted to him enough to want to have his children, which seems to be the litmus test for attraction among evolutionary psychologists.
Beyond staying in shape and not dressing poorly, a man's looks should be an afterthought. Concentrate on the attribute you have control over, and leave looking pretty to the women.
