The only CCG/LCG I really got into was Pokemon. I had a ton of fun playing it with my friends. Our experience mirrors yours except that I had a group of 6 I would play with every week and some or all of us would travel to various tournaments. I am still friends with all of those guys and most of them are still part of my core gaming group.
We got into it at the very beginning, but after abut two years of playing frequently, our interest faded when the initial Base, Fossil and Jungle sets were declared no longer valid for tournament play. We were dumbfounded that the cards we had invested so much time and money into acquiring were no longer allowed to be used. Basically, if you wanted to keep playing, you were required to buy new sets.
The reality that CCGS exist to make money set in and it completely erased my interest in CCGS - even though I loved constructing decks and had a lot of fun with Pokemon while it lasted.
My main deck for tournaments was a Moltres wildfire deck and it served me quite well - I managed to take 2nd place twice in larger tournaments but I never did win one....
...Until about 3 years ago at Gencon - one of my gaming buddies persuaded me to join a sealed deck tournament - just for old time''s sake. We practiced a little before the tournament and when the time came, I took the cards I was given and assembled a deck just like the old days.... and I went undefeated. 5-0 to take first place. And I only defeated one little kid (in the first round, lol).
Man ... just reading about your LCG experience got me VERY nostalgic... and it wasn't even the same game!!
Listen up - anyone who has never gotten into a CCG/LCG, be warned - THEY WILL CONSUME YOU!!!
i meant to respond to this! in 2017 or 2018 gencon, my AGOT-playing friend fell like 0-2 or 1-2. he dropped out and decided to play magic the gathering instead, and wound up winning.
as a kid i played a lot of yugioh - the metagame at my school is a treasured memory. the fad was passing (and power creep was already weakening my deck) but i finally quit when cards came out so powerful that they were banned, and quickly half my deck was banned cards. ---
yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness