But I hate having it at the back of my head that playing the race I want means I can never be as good as a class with stats that align with that race,
Where do people keep pulling this idea from? It's not true. It's never been true in 5e.
Everyone can get to that 20 in their core state, and usually by level 8 everyone does. Races with an aligned stat don't have to work as hard at something that comes to them a little bit easier than others, but they hit the same cap. The Goliath and the Halfling barbarians both cap out at 20 strength and have an equal chance in an arm wrestle. The half-orc and the elf wizard both cap out at 20 Int, and can memorise and recall information equally well as each other. Some of those characters had to work a little harder to get there, but at the end of the day it is
Precisely the fact that Every Race can be As Good as Any Other Race at Anything that is a defining aspect of 5e's system. People need to stop saying that.
