Not even all natives cook good Sarmale. You're likely to get a shitty dish if you just go by a recipe.
If you're in Romania buy the cabbage from the market - look for old peasants and ask if they can bring u pickled cabbage. SMELL IT! If it smells kinda bad is not that good. Ideally the "water" its in should taste good (dont drink a lot you'll get diarrhea, but is perfect for hangovers). Sometimes if is not kinda fresh it will have a bit of a scent and the water not taste as great and will still be ok for Sarmale.
Alternatively, you can just boil fresh cabbage to soften the leaves. Sarmale won't taste exactly the same but will be very close.
For best taste one of the secrets is that after you boil the sarmale on the cooktop you then cook them in the oven until the foils on top start to get brown/slightly burned. They taste best starting with 2nd day after you made them (dunno why, i guess there's a process they go through while they sit in the fridge). They are not complicated to make but the taste comes from the details.
Best served with Mamaliga and cream on top. You can also add some Dill on top but personally i find its taste to strong.
I'm sure if u do them 4-5 times you will start to get good at it. I always kinda fuckup 1st time i do a dish but then it gets better and better.