Thrawn is great. Spending money on him is a personal choice, and you have to decide if there are better places to spend that money. Honestly he's not that hard to get, and you won't suffer much in the long run waiting another cycle. But he is a very good character.
I wouldn't spend any money on this game under any circumstances. But you might want to - and Thrawn would be an absolutely fantastic investment. Undoubtedly one of the top 10 characters- still. And probably in the top three stand-alone characters.
Work to get him to 5 stars, very easy to do in about 1 month of farming. By the time the event comes back you should have 7 star Phoenix at g8 or g9, good enough with good mods to get him to 7 stars. Thrawn is hands down the best plug and play toon.
"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen...mostly"
I wouldn't. He's not probably not going to put you over the top and can be farmed somewhat easily. Farm Phoenix, go harder on Ezra, and gear everyone else up to 8. Omegas are important too.
Paying is obviously a personal preference but if you're going to pay, I'd reserve that for more meta relevant teams like the revans, considering they only require one squad and are more powerful overall.
Replies
How often does his event come? Do you know
Legendaries and Hero's Journeys return again approximately 90+/-10 days later
https://swgohevents.com/event/artist-of-war
Paying is obviously a personal preference but if you're going to pay, I'd reserve that for more meta relevant teams like the revans, considering they only require one squad and are more powerful overall.
This is enough for 7* free to play