I think cadets knew they were playing the Kobayashi scenario in the movies and the books. In games of poker or games of magic, you often don't sit down to a tab

I think cadets knew they were playing the Kobayashi scenario in the movies and the books. In games of poker or games of magic, you often don't sit down to a table knowing you're in a no-win scenario. Even uneven stacks in no-limit aren't guaranteed defeat. When encountering a Magic matchup which is heavily in the other person's favor, you might draw well, they might brick a lot or misplay, and you could win a near-unwinnable game. A lesson I've learned from these games is even when I've had all of the advantage, when it looks like I'm ahead on board, there's a possibility of losing to your own misplays and to random chance. When you're trying to get better at these games, you do your best to isolate chance and make the correct play each time, but simply playing well doesn't guarantee success. No amount of playskill can overcome mulling to an initial starting hand of 2 cards because you never saw a land in your first five hands. A 60 randomized card deck with 19 lands is favored to draw at least one land in its first five 7 card hands, but Fortuna might scowl at any moment.