When I played, back when I was a late teen, I didn't generally care about winning so much as pulling off cool combos or winning in a stupid way. I just found cards that worked together.
Depends what your goal is. Like most games, if it's to win you have to get sweaty.
I liked how mtg let you get real creative to pull off a semi viable deck with insane mechanics, even if it was strictly worse than "the correct" way to play
I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Jupiter's "protector" status might also be overblown, as it actually sends asteroids into the inner solar system as well.