That's common wisdom for the Jim Cramer crowd and the reason it's so well known is that it's good advice for the common person who doesn't understand the market.

Sometimes a trading system just needs to get an order done. Having too many busted pairs can really cause your system to become ineffective fast.

or put another way, limit orders are your best bet, unless they aren't:)

I'm not from the Jim Cramer crowd and it doesn't sound like you are either. If you are sending orders at the best bid/offer and you can't get filled it's probably because you're too slow. I suppose you could send a marketable limit order in at a price deeper in the book and let the exchange match it at the best price available, but that's still different from outright market (i.e. no limit) orders.