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I started playing MTG around 10 years ago (I was first introduced to the game around the time Mercadian Masques was fresh, and I think I learned how to play either from the Star-ter Set or 7th Edition's cd tutorial) and I'm far from a professional, but I've always considered myself to be pretty decent at it.

Recently I've been playing against a friend, who has a lot less experience and knowledge of the game than I do. His decks are amazingly simplistic, they all seem to consist almost purely of land and creatures costing 1-3 mana... and despite the good cards I use or the strategy I utilize he beats me fairly often.

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, I keep getting bad draws(I'm careful to keep 60 cards and around 20-24 lands, and a balanced amount of the other cards- I'm not looking for the 30 second standard deck-building info for someone who's played MTG for a month), my strategies all seem to fall short against the endless and unstoppable onslaught of weak cheap creatures and I really have no idea what to do.

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I CAN win occasionally, and I could focus on decks that would fair better against such strategies... but, I mean... is this it? Can someone really flourish in MTG without a good strategy, just farting out cheap creatures every turn?

Engineered plague maybe ? Get Dark ritual to play it quickly.

What type of deck do you play? can we get an example of a deck you use?

In black, Mutilate and Black Sun's Zenith . Black also gets the lion's share of undying.
In red, first strike exists. You can also use Magmaquake and Arc Trail . And, um, undying? Also, Goblin Arsonist can two-for-one him.
In white, use Norn's Annex . Every color can actually, if you're willing to pay 4 life. Stops a lot of nonwhite weenie decks cold. Priests of Norn + Spirit Mantle is also a pretty wacky combo. Like red, first strike is a white ability. Also consider Thraben Doomsayer , which gives you a guy every turn, and makes your guys bigger if you're at 5 life or less. Porcelain Legionnaire also fits into the white weenie (and anti-weenie) strategy, and only costs and 2 life for anybody. Finally, there's Tempered Steel . Also, vigilance, which tends to be on creatures with big anyway. Or first strikers. Or [c=Serra Angel]evasive types.
Green and blue are kinda hosed, though Ambush Viper can be lulzy if you keep blocking 1/Xs. Young Wolf and Stormbound Geist allow these colors to trade up. Green does get Lost in the Woods , though. Favorable Winds might work in blue's favor. These colors also have weenie's biggest downfall, card draw.

Every color has Myr Sire , Necropede , and Core Prowler . Human decks have Avacyn's Collar . Notice I'm talking a lot about death triggers here?