A Formula That Shows How to Cheat and Triumph at Tournaments

This may be "cheating" in some tournaments where you're expected to fairly seed your players. But it's considered totally fine in sports like baseball. In a short playoff series, if you think the other team's starting pitcher is way better than yours, it's absolutely fine to sacrifice your #4 against the #1, then start your #1 against their #2, your #2 against their #3, and your #3 against their #4. The cost is that by pushing your best pitchers back a game, they may end up getting fewer starts.

The fix when it is considered cheating is pretty simple: let an impartial third party (like a referee) rather than than the coaches seed the players.