and Elliot Wave is a tool. You don't need it but it can be used effectively if you use it as a tool in conjunction with other things. 

we all use it in some form anyway. If you see a sideways overlapping choppy move you know that's a consolidation wave and in an uptrend that's bullish, in a downtrend it's bearish. At times you can see clear 5 wave type moves and that can be useful. When you see an abc pullback down in an uptrend you know that's probably bullish (that's basically a form of EW).  For me I just use some of the basic concepts and that's it and don't go overly complicated into it. I think the guys who only use it and go into all the detail can struggle because it gets quite complex and open to many interpretations. The Elliot Wave guy I liked was Tony Caldaro who passed away, he tried to add some quantification to his Elliot Wave style, called Objective EW.  Steve and I once in a while show some EW stuff but it's mostly general guide. We stopped showing all the complex wave patterns years ago because it confused too many folks.

the cycle indicator is also a form of Elliot Wave, but is not subjectively drawn, it's mathematical.  see image of how I interpret it