New Player looking for deck building tips

1. Three color decks are definitely viable now with the big card pool. There are several cards that help you color fix as well. Check out any Wol or Soiree decks.

2. Usually full playset, maybe other different cards with the same name as well, but only if the effect is that good enough and if you have space in the deck. You don't really wanna go too overboard though with many same names. A playset of two different cards is more than enough. It's common to do 3 and 1 or 3 and 2. But it really just depends on the card effect and your deck build and intentions.

3. I've never played Vanguard, so I hope all this info can answer your question. Exbursts effects activate during damage without the trigger conditions to be met. The effects listed after an ex burst icon still triggers normally as the card is played, so long as you meet the trigger requirements (ex enter the field...). The only way they would trigger on attack is if the effect had that requirement listed in the effect (ex when this attacks, ...). For any auto ability, such as one that triggers something when it attacks, they do check valid targets (if there are any) on activation and resolution of the card. If all the targets becomes invalid by the time right before resolution, the effect fizzles.

4. Depends on what your aiming for. If it's just for cards to play, nonfoil singles are the way to go. If you're looking for closer to full playsets plus some rare stuff (foils and Full Arts), then boxes are probably the way to go, but only for the recent sets since they're at a decent price range. For the older sets that are expensive, you'll have better luck finding people selling complete sets (whether x1 or x3, NF or F). And then probably just get singles from the expensive sets (like Opus 11 and 14). Check the Facebook marketplace and various Discords markets for deals.

The starter decks and anniversary collection sets are definitely value and worth getting. The Starters contain complete playsets of Starter exclusive cards(they can be pulled as a foil in the booster box, but it's pretty rare). The Collection sets contains valuable staple reprints and unique promos.

5. This forum isn't really active with discussions in the community. I mainly keep the forum modestly updated to keep record of all the FFTCG news, updates, and events (at least for NA stuff. I still need to look for people that can help with the international stuff). And I mainly compile lists on here, like promos, accessories, spoilers, banned cards, list of all FFTCG merchandise, FAQs and erratas, etc.

The main FFTCG website is rarely updated and doesn't provide much info. Most of FFTCG info is scattered among social media (Facebook, Twitter, Discord, etc). I use the forum to try to consolidate a lot of the info onto here as a guide for people to find what they need. When I need to look up older news, it's easier to search on here for the original link/post than it is on the social media websites.

If you're looking for active communities, check out the Networking board, especially from the three social media sites I listed earlier. Most active discussions are probably on Discord.

You should also check out FFDecks.com. You can probably find some FFIV deck builds on there. You can also browse decks from tournament submissions from around the world.

Hope you find what you need. Welcome to the game!