Zader vs Thrawn lead for arena

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Hi guys, am about to get my 20th zeta material and will be doing my first zeta on vader tomorrow as I want to start posting high scores in rancor. Currently I use a Thrawn lead in Arena with Vader, Palp, Shoretrooper and Nihilus. I'm assuming switching to Zader lead after I get him will probably produce better results? Or would it be better to stick with Thrawn lead.

Any advice would be welcome.

http://swgoh.gg/u/asra9632/

Replies

  • Stick with Thrawn imo
  • Thrawn. Vader is no great shakes in arena. I'd be cautious about using a zeta on him in his current form.
  • Really keen to get his zeta for Rancor raid, since I don't have CLS. I'm also in quite a small guild so doing this will be a big step towards us being able to do heroic rancor. Vader is still going to be in my arena team regardless at the moment, just wondering which leadership is best, the team is going to stay the same.
  • ASRA9632 wrote: »
    Really keen to get his zeta for Rancor raid, since I don't have CLS. I'm also in quite a small guild so doing this will be a big step towards us being able to do heroic rancor. Vader is still going to be in my arena team regardless at the moment, just wondering which leadership is best, the team is going to stay the same.

    I'm doing Rancor with Teebo(L), Cassian, Rex, QGJ and TFP. I solo'd it last week and can usually make P1 + P2 + P3.
    Imo, Thrawn is the best Empire lead and his zeta makes him even greater, especially in that CLS environment. At your level, you should also replace Vader by TFP in your arena team.
  • BulYwif wrote: »
    ASRA9632 wrote: »
    Really keen to get his zeta for Rancor raid, since I don't have CLS. I'm also in quite a small guild so doing this will be a big step towards us being able to do heroic rancor. Vader is still going to be in my arena team regardless at the moment, just wondering which leadership is best, the team is going to stay the same.

    I'm doing Rancor with Teebo(L), Cassian, Rex, QGJ and TFP. I solo'd it last week and can usually make P1 + P2 + P3.
    Imo, Thrawn is the best Empire lead and his zeta makes him even greater, especially in that CLS environment. At your level, you should also replace Vader by TFP in your arena team.

    What's Cassian's role in that team?
    My collection https://swgoh.gg/u/Hskull55/
    Sorry for my English :]
  • Hskull55 wrote: »
    BulYwif wrote: »
    ASRA9632 wrote: »
    Really keen to get his zeta for Rancor raid, since I don't have CLS. I'm also in quite a small guild so doing this will be a big step towards us being able to do heroic rancor. Vader is still going to be in my arena team regardless at the moment, just wondering which leadership is best, the team is going to stay the same.

    I'm doing Rancor with Teebo(L), Cassian, Rex, QGJ and TFP. I solo'd it last week and can usually make P1 + P2 + P3.
    Imo, Thrawn is the best Empire lead and his zeta makes him even greater, especially in that CLS environment. At your level, you should also replace Vader by TFP in your arena team.

    What's Cassian's role in that team?

    Applying debuffs (speed down, offense down, defense down). He's also the second hitter after TFP.
  • I'm doing Rancor with Teebo(L), Cassian, Rex, QGJ and TFP. I solo'd it last week and can usually make P1 + P2 + P3.
    Imo, Thrawn is the best Empire lead and his zeta makes him even greater, especially in that CLS environment. At your level, you should also replace Vader by TFP in your arena team.[/quote]

    Oh really? You reckon TFP would be better? I just find him really squishy and find that vader has good synergies with the rest of the team. He makes everyone on the other team have a debuff so gaurantees nihilus 5 cooldowns on drain force and his ability block on basic means thrawn can put out loads of stuns. Not to mention his culling blade does crazy damage. Might have to give TFP a go though. Was wanting to add Deathtrooper to the squad once I've farmed him, probably swap for EP

  • Don't use Vader in the arena.
  • If you have a fast Thrawn then zVader is still a very effective lead when facing cleanse teams or rebels with zzR2. Getting some nice juicy unremovable DOTs on the enemy team really helps TFP and Nihilus.
  • Dphalpin
    7 posts Member
    edited September 2017
    I find it funny that so many people make these absolute declarative sentences in this forum: Phoenix is useless, don't use Vader in arena, don't use Vader as a lead. OP, I am in a November 2016 shard and use Vader in arena. I recently switched him to lead now that I have Thrawn have way powered up. Will I switch to Thrawn? Perhaps but I don't anticipate taking Vader out of my team. Gear him up, mine almost never is defeated in arena on offense unless I lose outright. Right now I run Zader(L), Thrawn, DN (zeta unique), Zylo, and Palp. Will probably replace Palp once I finish TFP and up his gear level. I am in the top 100, can usually move into the top 50.
  • Dphalpin wrote: »
    I find it funny that so many people make these absolute declarative sentences in this forum: Phoenix is useless, don't use Vader in arena, don't use Vader as a lead. OP, I am in a November 2016 shard and use Vader in arena. I recently switched him to lead now that I have Thrawn have way powered up. Will I switch to Thrawn? Perhaps but I don't anticipate taking Vader out of my team. Gear him up, mine almost never is defeated in arena on offense unless I lose outright. Right now I run Zader(L), Thrawn, DN (zeta unique), Zylo, and Palp. Will probably replace Palp once I finish TFP and up his gear level. I am in the top 100, can usually move into the top 50.

    Yes. But top 100 really isn't that great. So why make a point of dissing other people's advice when you yourself, prove said advice to be right?
  • [/quote] Yes. But top 100 really isn't that great. So why make a point of dissing other people's advice when you yourself, prove said advice to be right?[/quote]

    Ok, my friend, you are right. Top 100 "isn't that great." What is great? Top 10? Top 20? Let me know where the cutoff is at. Right now, my shard is filled with CLS squads with g12. As a mostly FTP player I am not going to compete with that setup. I am happy with where I am at.

  • Plus you are in a not-that-old shard. If you can only squeak into the top 50 with that team then wait until your shard mattures..you'd do well to make top 200.
  • Just to be clear, I am not "dissing" anyone's advice. Rather, I am "dissing" the propensity to make absolute declarative statements that aren't true. It sounds like OP might be in a similar shard as mine, given his characters' profiles.

    Don't worry though, I will be fine in my shard. Make adjustments as I need to do so.
  • Loose_Lee
    2733 posts Member
    edited September 2017
    @ASRA9632 zader was in then he was out, and now with g12 i think he may be in again... i cannot say definitively, but i personally have my gamorean guard and tusken shaman at g10+... both of these heros stack dots really really great... and since the both get really really good HP bumps from g12 zader lead may comeback... zader/gg/ts/thrawn and 1 other (like zarris?) may actually do quite well.

    As things stand now, thrawn is probably the better leader... but with g12 things are gonna change as more obscure heros get the limelight they deserve.
    Post edited by Loose_Lee on
  • AlexTheG wrote: »
    Plus you are in a not-that-old shard. If you can only squeak into the top 50 with that team then wait until your shard mattures..you'd do well to make top 200.

    I beg to differ, a good zVader squad can absolutely romp in the top of arena, you should not make assumptions based on your shard, my nov 2015 sees a zVader squad in the very top daily, amongst all the CLS r2 combos
  • I had the same choice. I choose Vader but not only for Arena, for Raids too. Arena was bad, I tried with those comps :

    zVader, Thrawn, TFP, DT, Shore. Not tanky enough.

    zVader, Thrawn, TFP, DT, Storm. Tanky but not enough to hold CLS.

    Thrawn, Veers, Shore, DT, Storm : I hold my place, rarely falling. Because I did zVader Yesterday I went to 89, I'm currently 51 because I fall after Payout and this is not changing since then. This squad is tanky in many ways : max protection, defense, max health, critical immunity, defense up, heal, etc...
    At then end, this is one of the best composition I know because they gain a lot of TM and if you Zeta Thrawn lead you might gain more protection.
  • AlexTheG wrote: »
    Plus you are in a not-that-old shard. If you can only squeak into the top 50 with that team then wait until your shard mattures..you'd do well to make top 200.

    I beg to differ, a good zVader squad can absolutely romp in the top of arena, you should not make assumptions based on your shard, my nov 2015 sees a zVader squad in the very top daily, amongst all the CLS r2 combos

    Well kudos to that player. I haven't seen a single Vader lead in the top 50 for months. I assume the player you refer to has amazing mods. I'm sure you'll admit, Vader led with squads are pretty rare in high end arena aren't they? Therefore I think the advice not to run a Vader lead is fair. If not, why isn't Vader a common lead in arena?
  • Hskull55
    2263 posts Member
    edited September 2017
    BulYwif wrote: »
    Hskull55 wrote: »
    BulYwif wrote: »
    ASRA9632 wrote: »
    Really keen to get his zeta for Rancor raid, since I don't have CLS. I'm also in quite a small guild so doing this will be a big step towards us being able to do heroic rancor. Vader is still going to be in my arena team regardless at the moment, just wondering which leadership is best, the team is going to stay the same.

    I'm doing Rancor with Teebo(L), Cassian, Rex, QGJ and TFP. I solo'd it last week and can usually make P1 + P2 + P3.
    Imo, Thrawn is the best Empire lead and his zeta makes him even greater, especially in that CLS environment. At your level, you should also replace Vader by TFP in your arena team.

    What's Cassian's role in that team?

    Applying debuffs (speed down, offense down, defense down). He's also the second hitter after TFP.

    OK, thanks (but CLS is better :tongue:)
    My collection https://swgoh.gg/u/Hskull55/
    Sorry for my English :]
  • I have zader, but he is basically useless right now unless you have him and his team with top end mods for AAT P2.

    He was not great in arena for a while, but new CLS/R2 meta rendered him useless.

    After his bug correction/debuff he is not among the best options for Rancor either, go for CLS or Jyn.

    A few months ago Zader was great in arena, rancor, aat and has a good ship. Now if I'm given the option I'd use this zeta in another toon.

    Go Thrawn if you want to stay DS, but be aware that this is a strong LS meta.
  • I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, I'm on a dec '16/Jan '17 shard. I ran Zader(took 1st for awhile til CLS canoe out) and I could not crack top 20 til I added SA. She is vital to speed him up. His big deal is uncleanseable DOTS and speed down. Mod him to go right before DN and it's a good combo.

    If you can get him to 200 speed, SA can make him go faster than any toon sitting at 249!or below. Some Rex are faster, most are not. He ability blocks GK through foresight so no group hug from him, and having SA with 3 buffs or more on her can oneshot squishy(read Rex/wedge/offense modded chirrut).

    He is by no means bad in arena with the right cast. CLS lead however(-and to a lesser extent, Thraw) cause big problems. With CLS lead everywhere, I wouldn't zeta him for arena. For rancor(assuming you have no CLS) he is a great zeta investment. Rocks at p2 in NAAT as well.
  • Arena should be first priority, so I would zeta Thrawn.
    I have zzThrawn, DK, zDT, ShT and DN and can take #1.
    MTFBWY
  • @Billcarson66 , I just zeta'd 6* g9 Thrawn's unique Ebb/Flow and use him with zVader lead in P3 Rancor. The combination worked well. Do you run zVader w/Thrawn or do you separate them Rancor so both will lead their teams.

    I believe zVader has his place but does need speed up to be effective. I didn't know about SA feeding TM or speed but will consider that as that would keep my Arena standing (150-200). I also have to speed up Thrawn as he's <200 and for now, I avoid faster teams. Eventually my server teams will speed up so I know I must in order to keep up. I will g10 him as well.

    I am considering my next zeta on Thrawn lead so wonder if that's good or else I may zeta Kylo's unique. Any thoughts?
  • BTW, the arena team is zVader (l) g11, Tarkin g11, Boba g10, EP g10, zThrawn g9. I can spend crystals to buy last gear and make Thrawn g10 and can also zeta him.

    Down the road, I'm considering completing Kylo to 85 g9 (eventually g10) and zeta him to take Boba or EP.
  • Gawejn
    1104 posts Member
    Thrawn is very good for arena with empire. Against CLs teams with Zolo is perfect to win. But key for this team( Dt, krenic, storm and shore ) is speed. Especially on tanks and Thrawn. I just got to top10 first time today. I played with zVader lead and I had problems to get to top 100. My team is not maxed like every team on my shard in top 50. Krenic is 5 and Shore 6 stars. Storm and Thrawn g12. Rest g11. I have fast tanks higher than 192 speed.
  • @Gawejn , good to see you on this thread. Your solution is a long farm for me so I hope my baby steps will work for now. I did g10 Thrawn and will try him soon. Eventually I will try his leader skills with same team. To keep empire theme, I may exchange my Boba for zKylo. If I use TFP to keep empire together I'll need taunter to keep TFP alive (as you mention ST or ShT).
  • xeo
    36 posts Member
    edited November 2017
    I too am trying to sync my arena team w/ my rancor team so that I don't have to keep shuffling mods around.

    I currently use:
    Zader (L, 7*g12), EP(7* g11), Thrawn(7* g8), TFP(7* g10), and Shoretrooper (5* g11)

    for rancor I take out ep and shoretrooper and sub in some 7* toons.

    Whats the best empire arena team I can make:
    https://swgoh.gg/u/xeo

    I've recently switched out Bobafett for thrawn to see if I could stop my spiraling towards top 100 (was consistently top 50 before the past few weeks)
  • Gawejn
    1104 posts Member
    edited November 2017
    @Gawejn , good to see you on this thread. Your solution is a long farm for me so I hope my baby steps will work for now. I did g10 Thrawn and will try him soon. Eventually I will try his leader skills with same team. To keep empire theme, I may exchange my Boba for zKylo. If I use TFP to keep empire together I'll need taunter to keep TFP alive (as you mention ST or ShT).

    Cool:), yes long farm. I am building Empire team 4 months. Now 5 started. So keep patience, i can tell You that my Empire can 4/4 phase 6 in DS TB without any platoons fullfiled:), very tough team. Once I had no enough time so I had to auto CLS team, and this team won. I was suprised:).
    Post edited by Gawejn on
  • @ObiJuanPollo , solid solid point on DoTs not being cleansed. That has saved me in arena as I'm able to last a while and next thing I see is R2 dropping, then Wedge, while Baze is still stunned that I can 1 shot him with culling blade or execute. haha.

    I run an alternate account with 7* Thrawn (this account is 6*) and I can say that I almost team soloed P3 Rancor yesterday. It was my 1st time able to make the door come down on the Rancor at least 2 times. Think I was so excited, I lost count 1..2..was that 3? Unbelievable power when you can fracture Rancor.

    @Gawejn, yes phase 6 DS TB (LS TB too) is so tough. Good to hear your success. I'm trying to follow.
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