Where to start??(again)

Hello,

I started playing back in the JYHAD days and stopped with V:TES. Now im looking to get back into playing and am wondering where i should start(again) to be competitive? which expansion? Should i go back to the V:TES,Camarilla, ??Any help would be greatly appreciated.

To be competitive? Easiest cards with most play value to get would be Jyhad (which you get from someone's collection or eBay, as opposed to cracking packs). Have to deal with how card text has changed on a bunch of cards. To get On the Qui Vive, need Third Edition or some newer set with them.

I ran a couple of experiments with limited collections, and the more successful one was using one box of starters and one box of boosters with Third Edition. Will miss some staple cards and will get wild distributions from the boosters, but I felt like I could field functional decks, especially !Malk SB. Unless I'm playing all 3e, I avoid playing cards from the set due to the inverted backs, but others don't necessarily care.

I would imagine Keepers of Tradition wouldn't be bad as a starting point, except I don't know where you would find it.

Best thing to always do is buy a collection from someone, eBay or local or whatever, and/or get donations from people who have enough excess cards to donate staples. At this point, after doing that, probably pick up singles of what you are missing from whatever decks you are looking to build.

Welcome back to the game! I've been putting together resources on my VTES blog to help new and returning players get into the game. You might be interested in some of them like:

New Player's Guide to VTES - this has a lot of information about the game, how to find players, how to acquire cards, etc.

VTES Quick-Start Guide - this is a relatively short primer on the rules of the game, along with card pictures and examples of play. It's effectively the VTES demo that I do at conventions written down.

Finally, I've opened my collection to new players . I've ship demo decks aimed at new players, but play-tested against experienced players and decks, as well as clan support kits with cards to customize one of the decks. I've made sure to sprinkle in some expensive staple cards into both of them.

Hope that you find some of this information useful, and welcome back! Nice to have you.

hi @tcafferty
i recently got back into the game after a considerable hiatus too. when it came to tracking down new cards, the thing on @brettscho's blog i found most useful was an article on the various expansin sets....
gamingwithbs.wordpress.com/vtes-set-information/

basically it tells you what clans are supported in each set, whether they've introduced new sects or mechanics like Laibon, Black Hand, Anarch (all of which are best played when you have a decent amount of the relevant supporting cards.) I think there's links to sellers on there too.

(Brett, i have to thank you - i narrowly avoided buying a box of Nights of Reckoning thanks to this article! lol)

also, the VTESone blog breaks down the expansions, mentioning notable cards & new mechanics in each set. it has links to full cards lists of the sets and the various preconstructed decks : vtesone.wordpress.com/expansions/