I want to take a look at the game and I probably don‘t want to go the competitive route with my playgroup. The goal is to build a couple of well rounded decks.

The starter sets and the 2 player set (everything twice) seems like a good entry point and I was considering maybe two draft starters and a display as additional product.

Since I don‘t care much about rotation currently, would the purchase of the first starters and 1st edition displays be a reasonable buy (they seem way cheaper than the newer stuff)? Or is the play experince more well rounded with the newest starter sets and displays?

Each set has some balancing issues, with the Awakenings cycle being worse than the Legacies one. Awakenings, SoR and EaW all have better common and uncommons in general though.

It does really depend on your style of play as well. If you think vehicles and supports are better than Jedi with lightsabers, I’d suggest buying from Empire at War and Legacies. If Jedi are your thing then Awakenings and Empire at War are great. If Star Wars Rebels is your favorite show, then Empire at War. Like, Rogue One, then SoR.

From a sheer value perspective, Empire at War and Way of the Force have the better Legendaries than other sets. Legacies is decent with Awakenings and SoR coming in last.

9 hours ago, Batterskull said:

I want to take a look at the game and I probably don‘t want to go the competitive route with my playgroup. The goal is to build a couple of well rounded decks.

If all you want are a couple of well rounded decks, and you don't care about having extras or anything. You can always use http://swdestinydb.com to build your deck, and then buy singles you want off of Websites like https://www.miniaturemarket.com/ and https://gongaii.com/ just to make your deck. Then when the new sets come out you can buy the starter sets, two player sets, and display boxes as you want them.

Or you can buy 2 of each starter sets, 2 of the two player sets, and a booster box or 2 of whatever set/sets that you want.

Those are the 2 ways that I would suggest to get into the game, without trying to be super competitive.