Cactus Game Design Message Boards

First, I would buy a starter deck, especially the G/H ones.  They are the best base you can get as they are pre-built decks you can change.  I think a mix a tins (Faith of our Fathers and Rock of Ages) and the new set (TxP) is the best way to start a collection.  Tins are more expensive, but they have pre-built color boosters which help a lot.  The new set definitely is a great way to get valuable cards, but you get a variety.

Have fun!

If you are looking to be competitive quickly I would recommend getting three tins.  Your first tin would have the two brigades you want to use for offense and for defense.  The next two tins would have the offense and defense color.  This way you get yourself a base of 8 cards for both offense and for defense while also giving yourself cards to use out of the packs that come in the tins.  You'll have 30 cards from the tin sets and 138 cards from the packs that come in the tins.  You'll probably have enough LSs from this to make a deck.  All you would need then is to get the Dominants.  I know several experienced players who would just give the basic ones away to you. (Son of God, Angel of the Lord, Christian Martyr, Burial)

When you buy the tin, the included cards are listed on the bottom.  The brigades are not listed there, but you can find those here on the boards.

I would recommend you start with these:
1.  Gift Set tin.  This includes Decks G & H, and a New Jerusalem card.  After playing these decks, you can decide which good color you want to focus on.  You can choose green Prophets, which have Aaron and Miriam in the starter.  Or gold (you get Moses).  Or White/Purple.  I recommend going with White/Purple, since they have some good ways to work together.  It is often helpful to play at least 2 good brigades.  Also decide which evil brigade to use.  I recommend ONE evil brigade.

2.  Buy a tin for your offense, and a tin for your defense.  The Tin that contains the Garden Tomb is great for the H deck heroes.  Find a tin or two that will help your defense.

In both of the above products are boosters as well.  Some of those may contain cards that will be used in your deck.  This will give you a playable starter deck with a little punch to it.  

Sorry to seem so out of the loop.  But with the tins how would I be able to tell which "Color" was within each one if I purchased say three?

That's a legitimate question.  It isn't very clear if you don't know exactly where to look.  For starters the card names are listed on the bottom of each tin.  That only helps if you already know the card though.  Here's a quick list for reference:

Fath of our Fathers
Tin 1 - Red Warriors and Gold Egyptians
Tin 2 - Gold Judges and Orange Demons
Tin 3 - Green Prophets and Crimson Babylonians
Tin 4 - Blue Genesis and Brown Rebels
Tin 5 - Purple Royalty and Crimson Babylonians
Tin 6 - White Daniel and Black Philistines
Tin 7 - Silver Angels and Pale Green Assyrians
Tin 8 - Teal Z's Temple and Orange Demons
Tin 9 - Red Warriors and Gray Syrians
Tin 10 - Blue Genesis and Gray Romans

Rock of Ages
Tin 11 - Red Warriors and Pale Green Assyrians
Tin 12 - Gold Luke and Crimson Babylonians
Tin 13 - Green Prophets and Gray Syrians
Tin 14 - Blue Genesis and Black Greeks
Tin 15 - Purple Royalty and Brown Rebels
Tin 16 - White Musicians and Gray Romans
Tin 17 - Silver Angels and Gold Egyptians
Tin 18 - Gold Judges and Black Sadducees
Tin 19 - White Garden Tomb and Brown Pesians

As a general rule, yes.  Some decks can get away with more colors for good.  But some cards punish you for playing with too many evil brigades, so it is best to stick with one, or at the very most 2 evil brigades.

If you are looking to be competitive quickly I would recommend getting three tins.

Actually, if you're looking to be competitive quickly, I would recommend buying this deck.  It is basically the deck that won 1st place at Nationals in 2008.  It didn't sell on ebay for $40, so I'm guessing you could talk him into selling it to you for $35.  That is $10 less than 3 tins will cost you.

If you have more money to spend and want more deckbuilding choices, then I'd recommend a deal like this one.  Then you'll have over half of the cards ever printed in the game to choose from.  You'll also have Authority of Christ Promo, which is one of the most powerful and valuable cards in the game.  You could keep it or trade it for anything that you still needed to supersize the deck I recommended above (ie. Guardian of Your Souls, etc.)

You could keep it or trade it for anything that you still needed to supersize the deck I recommended above (ie. Guardian of Your Souls, etc.)

Yeah, He got really lucky!  I bought 14 TexP packs hoping to get a Guardian.  He opened a pack at work, (while still deciding if he wanted to get into this game or not) and pulled a Guardian!