Say there are two websites:
1) "blackcat.com" that has tonnes of traffic and is well established. 2) "catblack.com" I am considering purchasing
If I buy "catblack.com" will it ALWAYS be outperformed in google searches by the prior due to its traffic, or will I have a chance at being number one? Should I stay away from making such a domain purchase?
Your domain by itself will have little to no impact on whether you can beat
blackcat.com. It will mostly depend on its content and backlink profile (assuming black cat and cat black are related).