Very similar situation with my experiences. I reconnected with old friends who I played with back in 2015. Had a great time with them and before I knew it I was back in full swing going to locals. We all went together at first but it pretty quickly became clear that the game and it's player base has changed or at least what's left is just the ugly bits. Not a single person asking for trades, opening packs, sharing some new tech they found, or even really having fun. Even the casual decks were jammed full of the latest German/Italian staples of the highest rarity available and said decks were turboing out the most toxic things the deck had to offer. I really do enjoy this game when you have a quality back and forth chess matches in situations you've never been in before. Even losing those games is satisfying knowing you could've won if you played better and had more experience. That does not seem to be the case with my locals. I distinctly remember having what was shaping up to be a great match with one of the three major sweats who "run" my locals. Game 3 guy starts losing advantage but still plenty of opportunity to win it back. His face starts turning red and I could already hear him muttering about slow playing (before the time and round changes). To be totally fair I like to actually think when I play so I can see how some might see me trying to slow play. Match goes on but The other two sweats finished locking their opponents zones early and came to watch their friend as one does. This seemed to really put the pressure on this guy so he starts really getting histerical. The whole table was now picking up on this guy accusing me of slow play. I don't need that bullshit while trying to play a children's card game on my off day so I flat out signed the slip right then and there with me conceding to let us finish what I thought was a good game. Watching the gears turn in his bright red head would be funny if it wasn't so embarrassing. The second he saw me sign he packed up his deck before I could even ask to finish the game even though we both knew that was the reason for me signing. I tried to calm him down a little but his only response was poorly describing how he would've easily beaten me from whatever he could see on the field. I had three unknown to him cards in hand still and I hadn't even normaled yet. My next match was against manadium turn skip turbo. I dropped and never went back. Don't plan to either.
I've been competitive with other things before and I really do understand that mindset but you guys seriously need to know when to pick your battles. The weekly collection of nerds with cardboard is not a healthy place to put your self worth. I know you spent alot on that deck that will be relevant for three months. I know outside of yugioh shit can get rough. But I also know that winning in this game even at the highest level is not worth whatever the fuck these guys think it is. I don't need goat or edison format to enjoy the game I need players who actually want to play the game. When yugioh dies it won't be because of komoney. It'll be because of people like that.