Getting into YC isn't really a competition, at least according to what pg has said publicly many times. They'd be happy to take as many qualified companies as they can, and the real problem is that sometimes qualified companies are masked by incompetence at presenting themselves in the written app and the interview. Which is why it's so awesome that Gleb and others have put together guides to the process.
I think those guides are awesome. It's not a straight up competition, but I believe if two similar startups are doing something very cool but one is more polished, it will make the other one look less impressive.
Sort of like that line of George Costanza: "If you're funny and he's funny, then what am I? A short bald guy with glasses who suddenly doesn't seem so funny."
Believe it or not (I'm mostly trolling with the video) I agree 100% and touched on this in the competitor/fear section of my application the other day.
