Artist of War Legendary Event: A Few Notes

I'm sure a number of you have worked on the development of your Phoenix squad with an eye on obtaining the very meta Grand Admiral Thrawn. It's tagged as an extremely rare event so, since it doesn't come around often, I thought I'd jot down some notes for everyone who hopes to finish the final tier.

First, I did my homework well before this event started. By all accounts, a well-geared and modded G8 Phoenix squad should have been adequate to beat Tier 7. I read that using Sabine rather than Zeb would make the final tier harder, but not impossible. I'm here to tell you that's no longer the case. So, heads up.

The first time this event took place, Phoenix characters didn't have Zeta abilities. It's my speculation, as well as many others on the forums, that after the Zeta rework the devs decided to make the final tier, at least, much harder to beat. Which means that using Sabine rather than Zeb is now impossible. Or nearly so. I mean, I tried 50 times and was ABSOLUTELY murdered at every turn. I only have Zeb at 6*. Thus, I only have Thrawn at 6* as well!

Here are the specs on my Lvl 85 7* squad:

Hera (Leader), G8, all Omega, Arena Mods (including +30 Speed Receiver)
Chopper, G8, Omega Unique +, Arena Mods (including +30 Speed Receiver)
Bridger, G9, all Omega, Arena Mods (including +30 Speed Receiver)
Kanan, G8, all Omega, Arena Mods
Sabine, G8, all Omega, Arena Mods

Now, if you want to obtain Thrawn at 7*, then my advice is to make sure the entire squad is at least G9 and that you run Zeb instead of Sabine. Use your best Mk 5 mod sets, especially Health that grants extra Protection on Kanan and Chopper, both of whom will Taunt to control enemy actions. Zeb's ability to not only Stagger but also Stun is absolutely key to keeping the enemy at bay while you chip away at their defenses. Since we won't see this event again for quite some time, I personally plan to also Zeta Kanan's Total Defense (Special) ability, which, among other things, grants Phoenix allies Defense Up for 3 Turns, as well as grants Kanan and a target ally Foresight and Protection Up (40%) for 2 Turns. If these steps don't get the job done, then I don't deserve Thrawn at 7*!