So, after four years, where do I start?

[SKIMMAH]

As a kid, I had only a small collection and never thought about competitive play. I'm not sure what it was, but something peaked my interest in the TCG back in 2011, when I started collecting. I've completed the entire Heart Gold/Soul Silver series and stopped collecting at Black & White:Next Destinies. FOUR YEARS have past and the TCG collecting bug has struck again. I think it has A LOT to do with the shiny new full art EXs, LOL. I also started playing competitively around that time. Coming back, my goal is to both collect and play competitively once again so I am looking for advice and suggestions here. I know the set rotation will take place on Sept 1st, so I assume my best bet will be to start with the XY Base set. Which sets are worth the booster box purchase? Thanks in advance all

 

[crann777]

Check THIS and THIS.
The TL;DR version: Phantom Forces is a good place to start, since it has allot of the staple meta cards in it. After that, depending on what you want to play, the next buy is either Furious Fists (Fighting staples, Seismitoad EX) or Roaring Skies (Shaymin EX, M Rayquaza EX). Ancient Origins is a fantastic set IMO, but most of the "good" cards are Uncommon or Rare, which means it is cheaper to buy singles.