the better mtt players are constantly striving to maximize their expectation, bottom line. Sometimes, situations change and there isn't a "set in stone" way to play. The better/best mtt players are absorbing so many variables and then proceeding properly, again maxing expectation.

To be risking more early/mid game to get a big stack seems silly to me, why not just "risk" down the line when the chips mean more?

Seek to maximize your expectation every hand; you know the ways to do that, and if you don't, well, you better start looking.

MTTs are more about valuing survival over maximizing equity, generally. Even though it is an old-school saying there is a lot of truth to "The goal in a tournament is to figure out how to survive long enough and hope to get lucky at the end." For example, if you have a medium sized stack over 50 BB's in the early/middle stages of a tournament, and you rate yourself as one of the more skilled/experienced players left in the field, it would be a bit foolish to risk the majority of your stack in one single hand even though you might be getting it in as a slight favorite.

Think of your stack as having an expected value in terms of the likelihood it is giving you of finishing in the money. The potential future value of your current stack would not increase as much as it would stand to lose by adding 25BB's to a 50BB's stack.

The types of hands and plays you can use are about the same for a 50BB and 75BB stack. But with a 25BB stack your starting hand requirements and types of plays you can profitably use (e.g. 3 betting, 4 betting to steal or re-steal) are limited.

Playing tight aggressive, in position, and paying attention to the types of hand ranges and playing tendencies of each of your opponents at your table is usually a recipe for getting good results in MTTs.

There is so much variance that even with playing solid tournament poker you also need to run good at the right times to get into the money and finish in the top where most of the value is sitting.

MTTs are about knowing how to have enough mental toughness and awareness of the game's variance to endure losing the majority of times you play.

There are no "silver bullets" or formulas for guaranteeing tournament wins. You need to be ready to put in as much work, or more, away from the tables studying and working on your game. The more work and time analyzing situations and how best to adapt and exploit how your current opponents are playing, the more opportunities you will give yourself.