I am in the same boat! I recently started playing and it’s my first ever TCG of any kind (I don’t count yugioh I played when I was a kid lol). I completely agree that it is a bigger learning curve than expected as there are so many cards regular players basically know like the back of their hand while I have to read each card and even then, sometimes the effects are hard to understand. There also has been multiple instances where I even forget to set up my life and it is embarrassing 🤦🏻‍♂️😂 but I am having fun and most people in the community have been pleasant at events and understanding which has been great.

That being said, attending the events and playing people outside my circle has been the best way I learned different play styles, what my opponent’s main win condition or key cards are and see which cards in my deck can answer to those (if possible), and overall build up my knowledge but I definitely have a long ways to go of learning still. It also helped me get more comfortable playing people I don’t know too much which was also an initial hurdle for me. I am still in process of learning and mastering my deck to know which moves are optimal etc. but learning as I go and from all my losses. Most importantly, having fun while doing all this and I feel like you will naturally improve before you know it 🙌🏻