The correct strategy for a game is entirely dependent on the kingdom. You can't cycle through your deck multiple times in a single turn (barring the existence

The correct strategy for a game is entirely dependent on the kingdom. You can't cycle through your deck multiple times in a single turn (barring the existence of sifting cards which given this was your first game I assume not) so you were probably playing a rule wrong. Whilst it is perfectly possible to build efficient full deck draw engines I will bet big money as a beginner that you took wayyyyyyy too long to build an execute your engine.