i'm genuinely not sure how this works - doesnt it just redirect you to the original submission if you submit the same article within the first X weeks? i've often submitted something only to find that someone else already did a few days ago and therefore it has no chance of getting featured.

Only within first 24 ish hours I think. Maybe more if it hit the front page or got a lot of votes?

from lived experience, if it got like 10ish votes it already exhibits that behavior. idk. whatever it is, good luck.