From what I've gathered through the plot implications + Telltale staff's suggestions, Elaine had a "plan" to expose Voodoo Lady from the beginning, but couldn't predict several things like the spread of the pox, LeChuck's Voodoo belt, Guybrush dying, etc. So, she had to improvise a lot throughout the whole game, especially at the end. Her plan didn't work out to perfection, but she did have one.
My best guess is that when the whole cutlass plan went haywire, she came up with another way to get rid of LeChuck for good, (in order to break the whole "fate" thing Voodoo Lady is apparently responsible for) so she might have planned a thing with the crossroads in which she allows LeChuck to try and open the rips, (so allowing him to set up the monkeys) have Guybrush in his physical form go through and stab LeChuck from that side while she got the other side. So in that case, that's probably where her whole plan with the ring came from, (thus what she was referring to when she said she always has a plan near the end) as insurance for Guybrush if something were to go wrong. You just have to kind of assume she researched some voodoo before all this.
As you can imagine though, things didn't go according to plan. Voodoo belt buckle charmed her into letting her guard down, Guybrush got killed, etc. So near the end she went with gut instinct. Guybrush mentions Voodoo Lady and Elaine acts all surprised, like if she didn't know he was communicating and being led around by her that whole time during the esponja ordeal. Then she comes up with that quick plan to turn into a demon to get her hands on the cutlass and this is where we get a whole set up for "Elaine trusts Guybrush so much she know he'll bring her back from her possessed state and goes with the plan." So she thinks they got rid of LeChuck for good by the end, thus breaking Guybrush out of his Voodoo Lady strings. Little did she know, Voodoo Lady was too smart for her, as you can see by the after-credits scene. :|
Anyway, that's the way I see it. Sure, it can be considered a bit of sloppy writing, but sometimes in these situations you have to come up with an explanation yourself so you can understand what is happening.
On the good side, this whole ordeal won Elaine the "Magnificent Bastard" trope, and that was the most awesome thing ever.
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