https://youtu.be/X0s1uMl1qeM

Retiring Thrawn is definitely the most sure fire way to bring about change.
It does present a few challenges in our game.
Thrawn is a deterrent to Daala, which is a very important thing.
Take away Thrawn and Daala pops right back up imo.
Most people's play styles have been an exact result of Thrawn being in the game.

I think that Thrawn is such a standard it would be hard to retire the piece at this point.

I think we would have better overall success in trying to compete with Thrawn. The problem is designer doubt (possibly from low play-testing) in creating a Power 10 piece.

You look at things coming out and the best designs have the same pattern
"YES! that looks awesome!"
followed by "what can I play with that?"
followed by "oh this isn't as good as that, but it looks fun!"

Which is a HUGE thing and I don't want to take away from the fun and theme coming out. I think people are really enjoying the game right now. So much that we tend to forget that at the cutthroat competition levels Imperials have an iron fist.

Anyway, designers need 3 things IMO.

#1 "Community input" on what factions should be helped.

#2 "Green light" that if they try something fun and powerful that they will not be "shamed" and that a small errata is not the end of the world. That one season of playing with a "too powerful" piece is better then the status quo. I think designers need to know that at this point it is time for a Power 10 piece. Especially for Republic, Separatists, and Sith.

#3 Play testing for the piece. Designers need to have feedback to build the best Power 10 piece that is not a Power 9 or a power 11. It is difficult to find the right spot. It might even be that the Power 10 pieces come out in a year instead of the next set.

^^^^

Good point.
But Talon is powerful enough if the pieces around him are powerful enough or "techy" enough.
Its just people are afraid because Morrigan and Boba push the squad to close to tier 1. So there has never been a piece better then those or that comes close since.
There has been no all fringe tech that helps the all fringe squad either.

We can do similar things with other factions.
38 point revan has a damage boost and a pretty good movement breaker and is a decent fighter. What's pieces have come out with him in mind?

Seps have twin..... Tell me one decent piece that can be played with whorm from sets 10 and up. I think Riff Tamson is the best fit with whorm... Dooku can be played but sucks.
Seps should get a command tower piece or something that make their ce's board wide and can't be disrupted except by adjacent characters.
Then pieces should be allowed to be played with Whorm.

Etc etc.

I just think that there is enough power ready to be used that can rival Thrawn. They just need pieces coming out that utilize the strengths factions already contain. Not hide from it.

I'm not really a fan of banning a piece just because it's a top tier. Rather than shaking up the meta, it just makes the next best choice move up to the top spot.

Also, once you ban one piece, then there'll be demands for quite a few more. Like when GOWK got banned for a time, people where then trying to get Boba, BH and a few others banned from play at the same time.

What might be interesting is making an alternate format that utilizes tiers, like how competitive pokemon battling is. In the Pokemon community, a Pokemon gets a tier rating (Uber, Overused, Underused, Rarely Used, and Never Used) which then determines what type of competitions it can take part of. So, if a Pokemon is in the Overused category, it can be used in an Uber or Overused battle, but not an Underused or lower one. Something similar could be applied to SWM, but it would require a bit of play and tweaking to make sure everyone gets into the right bracket.

Morrigan was in 2 of the 4 Imp squads. Thrawn has her beat bud

PALPATINE: "There is no civility, only politics. The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good. I must be frank, Your Majesty. There is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion."

Now, only if Chancellor Valorum was here to help us with this meta problem of the Imps complete dominance. Oh but wait. There's probably going to be an Amidala sighting on the boards, which will cause us to go down in flames

What is the opinion on why Imperial Swap is so much better than Republic Swap? I don't get it. They both have access to Boardwide swap and opportunist.

So Thrawn really isn't the problem then, the low cost tech is? That's what I reading, anyway. Meaning, if the Republic had the same access to everything on the cheap, Panaka would rival Thrawn then

Right now I have it Imp 40pts Boardwide swap, init control, Opp

Repub 49pts Boardwide swap, limited init control (that counters Thrawn's), but no Opp (21 more for that and limited)

I don't disagree with you. Every faction with Temp control and a movement breaker (or really good movement abilities) is uber powerful.
5 out of the last 5 gencon winners utilized Ozzel or Dodonna in their squad. (yep).

So of course no one can argue cheap temp control is an issue. But it is always a mix of things that makes power. Separatists have temp control as well (but it can't be turned off like others can). So that right there is a key holding seps back.
The combo of swap, opportunist, and act control is insanely powerful and has been used in 3 out of the last 5 gencon winners.
That combo at that cost outdoes anything Republic has to offer. Panaka is outclassed by Thrawn in an absurd way to be fair.
Whilst Republic is spending time paying for init control and opportunist Imperials are paying for Ysalamiri and a turn off of tempo.

Like I said, Thrawn seems to be a counter to Daala, so get rid of Thrawn and Daala just comes right back using that same cheap tech.

But Thrawn is an issue any way you look at it. He was an issue before Pellaeon.