Arena team and startegy suggestion - Traya Lead team
so the suggestion is : zzTraya, zDN, zSion, zzKRU, Thrawn/Hoda. (all unique zetas are must there, besides thrawn obviously) to check modding and stuff, can visit here: https://swgoh.gg/u/sidiousispikachu/ . long post ahead 
so, first of all, this is simply Hide-The-DN team, nothing more. the most reliable i believe, but nothing more than hide-the-dn. its a slow team, and in arena where only speed and TM matters, this is something special i think. no TM gain or speed gain through leadership, only with DN unique. similar to GK+Zarris, this team is built on surviveablity, and not on speed speed speed. its not as good defensively like zzPalp, Thrawn, Trio team with godlike modding, but its VERY reliable on offense and can win every team you face if you do it well.
lets talk about what it does : this team didnt lost once for me on offense, even vs better modded teams, and better geared teams. (g12 sions for example). doesnt seem like a big deal, but the team is very reliable, and i appreciate it in days of mostly RNG in arena .. so no matter how bad RNG goes, i still manage to win everytime. 100% winrate. and on defense, it will lose to traya teams obviously, but can surprise other teams, and shouldn't drop too hard. NS, Rebels, Jedis (zzYoda), JTR, Palp (no traya) reported to struggle against it and not win it, or at least need RNG... and some palp teams im almost sure that tried to beat me but couldn't (but outside shard group so can't say 100% percent) but on the other side, some JTR and Palp teams with good enough mods was able to beat. i usually use 2/3 fights to reach the top, but i enjoy being in shard chat and have very (*very*) convenient payout time, even tho im in nov15 shard. dont expect the exact same experience.
so, for who ? this team is built for top guys, with good modding, but not the best modding overall. I mean, if you are in a shard with some whales with godlike mods and you cant beat them, or at least cant beat them reliably, this is the team for you. if you are one of the top5 modding, just go zzPalp, Thrawn, Trio and enjoy your easy life. no place for you here
anyway, why am i suggesting this and not the Palp, Thrawn, Trio, for example ? because when i tried the palp team, i lost 3 times out of 4 to guys with better modding. the mods difference and RNG starts to kick in, and this team is risky even in mirror match. the top team belong to the super-top players, i guess. so my suggestion isn't anti-meta, but using meta toons to have reliable offense and easy life on that aspect, without requiring the best mods. thats why i think it should be like this : Traya L (1st support), DN, Sion (1st Tank), KRU (the auto-taunt), Thrawn (2nd support). lets explain : (Dn is self-explanatory. increase cooldowns and annihilate)
The 2 taunting tanks: they need to offer something more to make this team really good. so, the 1st one, Sion, is a must. he offer the TM+Hp bonuses to DN, he offer the great Pain debuff, and he offer also good damage and mass dispel. this is lot of things, that you want to have to beat any team that comes against you. and ofc enjoys being a sith in a traya L team (enjoys her unique and L). the second tank i choose is zKRU (unique z is must). the second tank MUST have auto-taunt. this part is crucial because you need to defend your DN from isolate. you need auto-taunt to eat that iso. so why KRU ? because the auto-taunt will be isolated vs the top-teams in your shard. and when you isolated, most of the taunting tanks cant do a thing. KRU, can offer tenacity Down, and most importantly - the 2 turn stun. you can use on JTR, on Nest, On isolated Sith, on thrawn... really big move. thats why i rather KRU over auto-taunters like SithTrooper/Shore/Baze that will basically do nothing all game, on offense and defense, because they will be isolated/fructured/both.
the 2 supports: Traya, is obviously the must. her isolates is just amazing. try to use it on DN so he cant dispel stuff (like KRU 2 turn stun). also, tanky, big damage, and inflict all debuffs that will be on KRU (and he will have debuffs on him) on your target. just amazing toon. synergize perfectly with DN and sion aswell. the second support, should be thrawn. he is the best option there, even tho Hoda, for example, will work as good as him on offense. lets say with thrawn: fructure. (yea, this is good enough reason). why Hoda ? master training buff is big on Sion (you thought he's tanky and hit hard with 100% defense and 100% offense. say hello to more 25% of each) and on traya, and when put on DN can also dispel and remove Cd -1 on annihilate. (same idea with traya applying stuff on basic). so thats cool for him. also some heal, but mostly the master training buff. great idea if you want to get rid of thrawn that staying in the meta for way too long.
just saying, that trying other teams, besides the Palp, Thrawn, Trio, didnt work well as this team : Trio+Kru+Shore failed - lack damage, Trio+KRU+zFost/Wampa isnt as effective on defense (but much better on offense than Shore - probably the same reason like Hoda is effective, calling DN and Traya basics outside turn is a big deal or in wampa case, WOMP WOMP), Zader+Trio+Wampa not as good, Palp+vader+trio, just like the thrawn over vader case - fail in mirror matches vs tough opponents (even tho surely better on defense), and Zaul L with Trio and SA/KRU/Thrawn/Shore dont work aswell.
so yea, after lot of testing and thinking, i think that best team is Trio+Auto-taunt+Support - where KRU is preferred auto-taunt and thrawn preferred support. 2 auto-taunt will hurt your damage output very hard, and will struggle. without auto-taunt, you will lose against super-fast traya teams. iso on DN is almsot impossible to recover (fructure isnt that of a big deal to be honest on offense, you can easily recover)
Tactic: Hide the DN. the auto-taunt is crucial to save from Isolate. iso on enemy DN. kill traya first while you control DN. (like stunning him with KRU while he's isolated, or fructure, or ability block with thrawn/Traya). obviously can try and kill DN first if you struggle in getting to traya, but it usually need annihilate. i usually kill 3 people with damage of Sion/Traya/KRU/Thrawn and 2 with annihilate, so you'll have plenty of time on the clock anyway, although its hide-the-Dn. i dont know what to tell you about modding, is just how i put and it work since. as i said, it dont need super speed to be effective, but if you notice some problems, you can check my modding, and turn order, and try to copy it.
and thats it probably. hope you'll enjoy and have positive experience with it on the arena, and hope it will help someone out there
so, first of all, this is simply Hide-The-DN team, nothing more. the most reliable i believe, but nothing more than hide-the-dn. its a slow team, and in arena where only speed and TM matters, this is something special i think. no TM gain or speed gain through leadership, only with DN unique. similar to GK+Zarris, this team is built on surviveablity, and not on speed speed speed. its not as good defensively like zzPalp, Thrawn, Trio team with godlike modding, but its VERY reliable on offense and can win every team you face if you do it well.
lets talk about what it does : this team didnt lost once for me on offense, even vs better modded teams, and better geared teams. (g12 sions for example). doesnt seem like a big deal, but the team is very reliable, and i appreciate it in days of mostly RNG in arena .. so no matter how bad RNG goes, i still manage to win everytime. 100% winrate. and on defense, it will lose to traya teams obviously, but can surprise other teams, and shouldn't drop too hard. NS, Rebels, Jedis (zzYoda), JTR, Palp (no traya) reported to struggle against it and not win it, or at least need RNG... and some palp teams im almost sure that tried to beat me but couldn't (but outside shard group so can't say 100% percent) but on the other side, some JTR and Palp teams with good enough mods was able to beat. i usually use 2/3 fights to reach the top, but i enjoy being in shard chat and have very (*very*) convenient payout time, even tho im in nov15 shard. dont expect the exact same experience.
so, for who ? this team is built for top guys, with good modding, but not the best modding overall. I mean, if you are in a shard with some whales with godlike mods and you cant beat them, or at least cant beat them reliably, this is the team for you. if you are one of the top5 modding, just go zzPalp, Thrawn, Trio and enjoy your easy life. no place for you here
anyway, why am i suggesting this and not the Palp, Thrawn, Trio, for example ? because when i tried the palp team, i lost 3 times out of 4 to guys with better modding. the mods difference and RNG starts to kick in, and this team is risky even in mirror match. the top team belong to the super-top players, i guess. so my suggestion isn't anti-meta, but using meta toons to have reliable offense and easy life on that aspect, without requiring the best mods. thats why i think it should be like this : Traya L (1st support), DN, Sion (1st Tank), KRU (the auto-taunt), Thrawn (2nd support). lets explain : (Dn is self-explanatory. increase cooldowns and annihilate)
The 2 taunting tanks: they need to offer something more to make this team really good. so, the 1st one, Sion, is a must. he offer the TM+Hp bonuses to DN, he offer the great Pain debuff, and he offer also good damage and mass dispel. this is lot of things, that you want to have to beat any team that comes against you. and ofc enjoys being a sith in a traya L team (enjoys her unique and L). the second tank i choose is zKRU (unique z is must). the second tank MUST have auto-taunt. this part is crucial because you need to defend your DN from isolate. you need auto-taunt to eat that iso. so why KRU ? because the auto-taunt will be isolated vs the top-teams in your shard. and when you isolated, most of the taunting tanks cant do a thing. KRU, can offer tenacity Down, and most importantly - the 2 turn stun. you can use on JTR, on Nest, On isolated Sith, on thrawn... really big move. thats why i rather KRU over auto-taunters like SithTrooper/Shore/Baze that will basically do nothing all game, on offense and defense, because they will be isolated/fructured/both.
the 2 supports: Traya, is obviously the must. her isolates is just amazing. try to use it on DN so he cant dispel stuff (like KRU 2 turn stun). also, tanky, big damage, and inflict all debuffs that will be on KRU (and he will have debuffs on him) on your target. just amazing toon. synergize perfectly with DN and sion aswell. the second support, should be thrawn. he is the best option there, even tho Hoda, for example, will work as good as him on offense. lets say with thrawn: fructure. (yea, this is good enough reason). why Hoda ? master training buff is big on Sion (you thought he's tanky and hit hard with 100% defense and 100% offense. say hello to more 25% of each) and on traya, and when put on DN can also dispel and remove Cd -1 on annihilate. (same idea with traya applying stuff on basic). so thats cool for him. also some heal, but mostly the master training buff. great idea if you want to get rid of thrawn that staying in the meta for way too long.
just saying, that trying other teams, besides the Palp, Thrawn, Trio, didnt work well as this team : Trio+Kru+Shore failed - lack damage, Trio+KRU+zFost/Wampa isnt as effective on defense (but much better on offense than Shore - probably the same reason like Hoda is effective, calling DN and Traya basics outside turn is a big deal or in wampa case, WOMP WOMP), Zader+Trio+Wampa not as good, Palp+vader+trio, just like the thrawn over vader case - fail in mirror matches vs tough opponents (even tho surely better on defense), and Zaul L with Trio and SA/KRU/Thrawn/Shore dont work aswell.
so yea, after lot of testing and thinking, i think that best team is Trio+Auto-taunt+Support - where KRU is preferred auto-taunt and thrawn preferred support. 2 auto-taunt will hurt your damage output very hard, and will struggle. without auto-taunt, you will lose against super-fast traya teams. iso on DN is almsot impossible to recover (fructure isnt that of a big deal to be honest on offense, you can easily recover)
Tactic: Hide the DN. the auto-taunt is crucial to save from Isolate. iso on enemy DN. kill traya first while you control DN. (like stunning him with KRU while he's isolated, or fructure, or ability block with thrawn/Traya). obviously can try and kill DN first if you struggle in getting to traya, but it usually need annihilate. i usually kill 3 people with damage of Sion/Traya/KRU/Thrawn and 2 with annihilate, so you'll have plenty of time on the clock anyway, although its hide-the-Dn. i dont know what to tell you about modding, is just how i put and it work since. as i said, it dont need super speed to be effective, but if you notice some problems, you can check my modding, and turn order, and try to copy it.
and thats it probably. hope you'll enjoy and have positive experience with it on the arena, and hope it will help someone out there
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Replies
the auto-taunt job isnt to soak damage, is to soak the Isolate. the trio are very tanky anyway, they have no problem getting hit, they have problem getting hit with isolate - esepcially DN.
so even tho SithTrooper will soak up more damage on paper - in fact he wont (because he won't taunt), and its not needed, so it leave me again with the option of KRU 2-turn-stun to be much better option.
edit: after i wrote it i just realized how sad it is... isolate is a debuff that deals 0 damage, and yet its more scary than 2-3 hard attackers... at least in that teamcomp xD
in my opinion and from my experience, should be Traya , Dn, Sion, Tank (autotaunt), Support/Dmg deal.
but those 2 FO tanks are surely fun with the trio.