You should not base your strategy on eventually getting accepted into YC. There are just too many applications and the acceptance rate is very low. The majority of the applications were rejected, and I am sure many are very good. YC is just one route, and if you are willing to take YC out of the equation, A/B/C/D are all doable and the best route really depends on your situation (how much do you believe in your startup, can you bootstrap, do you need coaching/funding).
