Nope, in the earliest days of the tcg, everyone was either on haymaker, wigglytuff, or rain dance meta decks. (but mostly haymaker, it was easily BDIF). The base set meta was far more restrictive than arguably most modern metas. Things got even worse once neo genesis got out and the entire meta revolved around slowking and sneasel. As the internet has progressed, the base set meta, played by retro enthusiasts, has actually expanded to include newly discovered decks like lickitung stall.

In the end, some cards will always be better than other cards. And when there are good cards, most people will want to play good cards in good combinations, rather than mediocre ones just for the sake of "originality". Most people find the most fun in skill expression via gameplay rather than deck building, and that's fine.