You play like me, KID! Though I alternate between the Legendary Ocean/Tornado Wall and the Wall of Revealing Light depending on what kind of deck I run monster-wise. I wait until I can set up the sweep and/or lockdown. It's why I impliment the Enchanted Javelins as a defensive AND offensive trap card too, to save or gain lifepoints if my monster attacks.
I'm only going to buy specific cards from now on, once I get a job, so I can complete the deck that I do have. Espy, Yu-Gi-Oh! has gotten pretty good, actually. For years on end I looked at all the new cards/packs coming out and couldn't help but think to myself that I could never compete with the likes of a brand new deck. Those Synchro monsters and shiat? I was like, "...man."
Then KillLock pulled me back into the game and I re-constructed my deck thanks to retrieving a free Dark Paladin and Emblem of the Dragon Destroyer (to bring the Buster Blader into my hand. I had a Poly + Fusion Gate card. Need to get the Future Fusion card)
It turns out that my deck is STILL viable to compete against things like the Six Samurai, Crystal Beasts, Aliens, Zombies, etc. because the old school cards still had some epic magic to them. I run a card in my deck that I use specifically to wreck decks that commonly run on effect monsters that work off one another. Skill Drain. You Pay 1000 LP and all effect monsters on the field are permanently negated and reduced to being just a normal monster. It includes your own but it's a good price to pay when you're just ready to bust out normal powerhouses or your effect monsters are still legit. I also use Skill Drain in the worst-case scenario of having to face down an Egyptian God Card. With the new legal ones coming out one by one, they're now effect monsters and since Skill Drain doesn't specifically target them, they are effected too. Essentially that turns Slifer the Sky Dragon into a permanent 0 attack/0 defense monster that can't do anything at all. Obelisk is still 4000/4000, and the Winged Dragon of Ra...well. Easy target since it can be effected by magic/trap cards unlike Obelisk.
Slifer hasn't been released yet but I'm looking forward to it.
When my dragons fail after I've gone through those? The Dark Paladin cleans up rather nicely with all that I've had to destroy to bring him out. Works a thousand times better than a Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.
[EDIT]
Fortunately, my deck wasn't slammed hard. And since I can use Monster Reborn again...hells yes to second chances. I used Creature Swap to screw over a Crystal Beast deck for a while too and prevent the summoning of the Rainbow Dragon. As well, I destroyed the Rainbow Dragon when it finally did get on the field with a combination of giving it the axe of despair, and the second I did that, triggered my trap card Really Eternal Rest.
I have older cards, but my strategies still work to beat people. That's why I still love this game. I don't need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars anymore on anything new to win. I just need to play with what I love and know how to use them right.
[EDIT #2]
Shado, want a *****in' Scourge avi? I can make one. lol