The Upgrade Files: Case 21 – Commanders (GAR & CIS)

 

We’ve reached the end of the upgrade cards! Fittingly, we close out with the Clone Wars commanders. 

The GAR lineup is a mixed bag: one or two excellent admirals, one absolute dud, and several “almost there” designs that feel like they’d shine if only the faction itself had more tools to work with.

CIS, on the other hand, has a much healthier spread — no total flops, plenty of interesting choices, though some are clearly stronger than others.

Let’s dig in.

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GAR Commanders

Admiral Tarkin

Another token-spammer. At 30 points. I’ll pass, thanks. It’s not that you can’t make him work, but why would you spend 30 points to spam tokens? Boring! At 26, he'd be just as dull, but cheaper.

Verdict: Drop to 26.

Admiral Yularen

Push even more squadrons? Yes please. Five with a Pelta, eight with a Venator-II, and he even helps patch up key aces. Cheap enough to be a genuinely good squadron admiral. 

Verdict: Solid as is, 24 is the same as Sloane.

Anakin Skywalker (Commander)

Love him or hate him, he’s undeniably effective. Extra rerolls are gold for GAR, and his ability makes even cheap Consulars with ExRacks scary. More balanced than Salvokin (seriously, AMG, what were you thinking?).

Verdict: At 27 points, he’s pricey but fair. 

Bail Organa

Deceptively simple, deceptively strong. Armada games often hinge on a few key turns, and Bail lets you dictate exactly when you overperform. Always a good pick. 

Verdict: At 26, he’d be an even better value, but not a big deal; he's fine either way.

Luminara Unduli

Defensive powerhouse — and that’s the problem. She completely warps the GAR defensive design space, ruling out things like double redirect (because of EST) and making double evade problematic, while enabling tanky, semi-toxic builds. As a commander, she’s great. For the game? Not so much. ARC should think hard about her. 

Verdict: Arguably undercosted at 25, but if the other admirals get adjusted as suggested, she's fine.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Sorry, Obi, but you’re the worst commander in the Clone Wars set. Even with EST support, his damage mitigation is just too weak to matter compared to what Luminara offers. Why take him when you could just… take Luminara and save more damage in practice?

Verdict: Bring it down to 20, but it really needs a full redesign.

Plo Koon

Almost good. Extra accuracies are nice, and his Adept boost has some value, but you can’t really fit enough Adepts and enough bombers into 134 to make him shine. Worse than Yularen, better than Obi, but still in the “binder more than table” camp.

Verdict: Drop his cost to 24, same as Yularen, and he might see more play.

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CIS Commanders

Admiral Trench

Your friendly galactic neighborhood Spider-Admiral is essentially the love child of Thrawn and Leia. Dial + token flexibility is fantastic, especially in squadron-heavy builds. Works best in 134 Hyena fleets backed by Invincible, but I'm sure he'd have other applications if ARC or Legacy expands the CW factions. Costs 32 — maybe a touch high, 30 feels cleaner — but a solid, thematic commander.

Verdict: Make Spider-Admiral 30 and call it a day.

Count Dooku

Fleetwide raid. Mid-tier at best. Without ways to leverage raid beyond its base effect, he’s never going to shine. Fun? Yes. Amazing? No. 

Verdict: Drop him to 22 (same as ARC Draven) and he’d at least sit in the right ballpark.

General Grievous

Endless Thermals or EST redirects? Yes please. If opponents ignore your generics, Hyenas clean house. If they don’t, you recycle tokens and grind them down. Not my style, but he’s cheap, fun, and viable. 

Verdict: No complaints.

Kraken

Always interesting, never dull. Crits and accuracies on demand make him dangerous, and he’s flexible enough to fit many fleets. The new Quarren Prototype looks especially tasty with him. 

Verdict: Leave as is.

Mar Tuuk

The default CIS admiral for good reason. Always useful, with minimal downsides. Closest parallel is Ackbar — except Tuuk is cheaper, more flexible, and frankly better value. 

Verdict: He’s probably worth closer to 30, but he's fine at 28 too.

TF-1726

Potentially more dangerous than Tuuk, but it requires a significant investment in droid platforms and setup. The “Super Droid Tax” is real. New slicer wording and the Command Munificent help, but he’s still fiddly. 

Verdict: 26 points feels slightly high given how much tech he needs to get rolling, but anything less than 25 sounds too cheap, so probably not worth tweaking.

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Final Verdict

GAR commanders feel uneven, with Obi outright bad, and Luminara isn't OP as much as she takes away from the game's design space. The rest live somewhere between “fine” and “almost there,” but the real issue might be GAR itself: without more tools in the faction’s design space, even decent commanders feel like they’re missing something.

CIS are healthier overall: every commander is playable, some excellent, some niche, none unviable. Mar Tuuk is arguably too efficient, and Dooku is weak, but the spread feels much less lopsided than GAR.

Next Up: Squadrons! We've covered every single upgrade card, and now it's time to look at snubfighters, bombers, and some iconic light freighters with nonstandard armaments.