You should probably look at it this way: they're ranking at the top despite the keyword stuffing.

So no I wouldn't expect your rankings to improve if you were to employ the same technique.

They may momentarily improve, just before the deep plunge. Not to hard to show up on top for a few days with tricks, but it is a temporary high.

To end up on top, think of your visitors, do things for them. Write to give your users what they are looking for.

Fun thing is, that while YOU are not stuffing keywords you STILL MANAGED to rank 9!

When g (or other se) addresses their spammy ways your NINE becomes gold!

Being One for Nine Seconds is not as good as being Nine for Nine months (and over time your nine will advance when the garbage is cleared out).

Always think users first and in time, and CONSISTENCY, you will rise. Perhaps not number one, but on first page.

Also note: Users are getting smart to the tricks of #1, #2, #3, #4 and the ads and knowledge box, and sponsored at the top of the serps. They skip past that foofaraw to #5-6 before they start their search.

When considering this topic I am always reminded of how a new web page on a new website that only had a page title and a heading but no other content (blank) was returned as #1 for a search on a 3 word string that described my product category. That was in the last year and one would expect that after 2 decades of fixing what was never broken, that they could do better than that by now.

When considering this topic I am always reminded of how a new web page on a new website that only had a page title and a heading but no other content (blank) was returned as #1 for a search on a 3 word string that described my product category.

That's either perfect placement, stupidity on the serp (sandboxing), or a failure of a well-crafted website and immense content in competition---IF THE THREE WORD CONTINUES TO LIST YEAR AFTER YEAR. (joking)

New sites with #1 for a few hours or days or even weeks don't scare me. "Popularity Never Lasts". That said, popular sites don't either, but they have a better chance of staying viable and near, if not on top, of the lists.

Keyword stuffing is not relevant nowadays as far I can see.

Google has gone way beyond counting the number of keywords in an article, other factors have replaced keywords.

Stuff as much or as little as you want, Google are using other factors for their serps.

Keyword stuffing is not relevant nowadays as far I can see.

I agree with this. Other factors in google's algorithm have a much larger effect on a page's rankings than how keywords are used.