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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

The Upgrade Files: Case 20 – Commanders (Rebels)

The Rebel commander lineup is large — not quite as vast as the Empire’s (thanks, SSD expansion), but broad enough that most archetypes should have at least one admiral to support them. The catch is that Rebel options are more uneven. Where the Empire has a deep bench of broadly viable leaders, Rebels have fewer competitive standouts and a couple of commanders whose designs are either outdated or outright problematic.

Let’s dive in.

---

Admiral Ackbar

Still one of the most iconic commanders in Armada. Worth his sky-high cost? Yes. But Ackbar’s design is old-fashioned and warps design space. Every ship with a side arc (so, everything, including flotillas) must be designed/priced with Ackbar in mind, which locks the Rebels into a narrow slice of fleetbuilding. You end up with potato fleets of Assault Frigates and CR90s — not because players love them, but because cheap, efficient side-arc ships can’t exist in an Ackbar world. 

Verdict: Ideally, he’d be redesigned to limit his effect (e.g., once per activation, or only on medium+ bases, or banning flotillas), but realistically, he’ll stay as is.

Admiral Raddus

Old Raddus was utterly busted — he should never have cleared playtesting. The current version is toned down, but the mechanic remains dangerous. Dropping a pile of firepower into a tiny slice of the table within one or two activations is still game-warping. Counters exist, but the concept itself limits Rebel design space, just like Ackbar. That said, he’s thematic and unique, so I don’t want to see him gone. 

Verdict: Perhaps a small cost increase, or banning his drop from overlapping obstacles, would add meaningful counterplay.

Commander Sato (ARC)

Old Sato was fun but non-competitive. The ARC revision makes him much stronger, offering black-dice at long range plus more flexible dice mods. Sure, he doesn't work on Salvo anymore, but that's a minor tradeoff given the sorry lack of Salo across the Rebel faction. 

At 400 points, he’s still tricky to build around — balancing squadrons and ships is hard — but in 600+ sector battles, he’s excellent. For standard play, he’s now playable, which is already a big win.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Garm Bel Iblis

Token gimmicks were interesting in wave 1. Now, with abundant token generation across factions (and Rebels have Ahsoka), Garm feels obsolete. Even at 20 points, he’d be lackluster. The “non-consecutive rounds” clause only makes him clunkier. He’d need a proper redesign — still token-based, but more flexible — to be relevant again.

Verdict: Drop to 20 while we wait for a redesign.

General Cracken

Still viable, still competitive, especially with MSU fleets. The restriction against large ships could be lifted without fear; you won’t see double-Liberty or MC75 spam suddenly break the game.

Verdict: Leave as is or remove the Large restriction.

General Dodonna

Cheap and cheerful, but not much more. He shines when crit fishing is reliable — APT in particular — but those effects were nerfed and Rebel squad builds now lean heavily into rogues, who rarely deliver the crit volume to make him sing. Fine in isolation, overshadowed in practice.

Verdict: Introduce other changes to make rebel bombers pop again.

General Draven (ARC)

Third time’s the charm. ARC Draven makes raid fun and viable, boosting Rebel squads in ways that didn’t exist before. Unlike Sato, he doesn’t require squadrons, but enhances them if you bring them. At 22 points, he’s a bargain without being oppressive. He has counterplay, he’s interactive, and he makes raid matter. 

Verdict: A great redesign.

General Madine

The 1.5 rework made him simpler, always handing out yaw. Ironically, this makes him less of a true navigation admiral than before, since old Madine offered more potential with tokens and dials. Now he’s more of a utility/squadron enabler. At 30 points, he feels a touch expensive. Adding an extra yaw when resolving a nav command would put him back on the map.

Verdict: Reduce cost or unshackle his bendiness. 

General Rieekan

Once the terror of the Rebel meta, Rieekan was hit three times: one ship/squad per round, a cost increase, and the ace cap. That’s overkill. At 34 points he’s no longer worth it. If adjusted, I’d either let him trigger once for a ship and once for a squadron per round, or once per Ship Phase and Squadron Phase.

Verdict: Points decrease or mild unnerfing.

Kyrsta Agate (Commander)

Potent, flexible, and fairly priced at 25. Agate breaks all the rules around defense tokens, which makes her one of the “problematic” Rebel commanders. She props up weaker Rebel chassis and basically makes the Starhawk viable, which shows how poor that ship’s baseline design was. 

Verdict: Sigh. Keep as is.

Leia Organa (ARC)

Finally out of the trash compactor. Old Leia was overcosted and restrictive; ARC Leia allows command tokens and her ability, which makes her playable. 

Verdict: Not top-tier, but no longer binder fodder.

Mon Mothma (ARC)

ECM on every evade is a powerful ability. The ARC rework makes her better, and Rebels love her in MSU and rogue-ball fleets. Is she balanced? In isolation, yes. In practice, she pushes Rebels even harder into the same archetypes they were already leaning on — MSU + rogues. Expect her to be both popular and annoying (hello, Foresight).

Verdict: Fine, I guess.

---

Final Verdict – Rebel Commanders

Rebels have a broad lineup, but fewer truly competitive options than the Empire. Ackbar and Raddus dominate design space, Agate props up Starhawks (and everywhere else), and Mon Mothma feeds into the MSU/rogue ball meta, same as Craken. The ARC reworks gave Sato, Draven, and Leia new life, while Garm and Rieekan languish.

The Rebel problem isn’t that they lack good commanders — it’s that too many of them either reinforce narrow archetypes or sit on outdated mechanics. Compared to the Empire’s healthy roster, Rebel leadership feels more constrained.

Next Up: GAR & CIS Commanders. This should conclude our tour of every single upgrade card in the game. But fear not! We'll take a look at squadrons and ships too!

The Upgrade Files: Case 19 – Commanders (Empire)

If there’s one thing the Empire has in spades, it’s competent commanders. The faction boasts one of the deepest benches in Armada, with plenty of competitive, reasonably priced options. Thanks to ARC’s brush-ups, only one commander (sorry, Tagge) sits firmly in the “dud” category, while the rest range from solid to outright excellent.

Let’s take a tour through the Imperial leadership roster.

---

Admiral Konstantine

I’ve always had a soft spot for King K, even back in his clunky original form. The new version works — his ability is niche by nature, but that’s a feature, not a bug. If movement control were stronger, it would be oppressive; if weaker, he’d be useless. As is, he’s a fun alternative who doesn’t ruin anyone’s day. Works best with raid tech (meaning Slicers), and could get better if the Empire receives more raid support in the future. 

Verdict: Leave him alone.

Admiral Motti (ARC)

The ARC price drop was absolutely warranted. Motti has always been the “training wheels” admiral, handing you extra hull to keep ships alive. But he’s still relevant beyond new players: durability is always valuable, and Motti is as simple and effective as they come.

Verdict: Perfect now.

Admiral Ozzel (Commander)

The ultimate bargain-bin commander. Free speed changes are gold, not just for pouncing on enemies but for dodging return fire. With skillful play, Ozzel often prevents more damage than Motti’s hull padding. Especially potent with speed-3+ ships that thrive on positional tricks.

Verdict: Leave him alone.

Admiral Piett

I get how he works. I get that you can build around him. But that’s not niche — that’s restrictive. If Piett were designed today, I’d give him a pool of dials during setup that you can spend instead of command tokens. The current implementation “works,” but it is too clunky to be worthwhile. 

Verdict: Deserves an ARC makeover.

Admiral Screed (ARC)

ARC Screed is back in business. The cost of spending a die is steep, but the guarantee of a crit effect (unless cancelled by evades) is still solid. The one-use-per-activation cap keeps him in check. Too bad ACM and APT were nerfed — Screed’s toolkit shrank accordingly. 

Verdict: At 26 points he’s fair, but 24 might make him more attractive.

Admiral Sloane

Still strong, still cheap at 24. But her oppressive heyday is over — counters and limitations abound now. She’s no longer warping the meta, just another solid option. 

Verdict: Leave her be.

Darth Vader (ARC, Commander)

The OG reroll engine. Always thematic, always strong. His new ARC price point feels just right. Expensive, but he makes every die count.

Verdict: Vader is in a better place now.

Emperor Palpatine (ARC, Commander)

Not much has changed — except the “not much” actually matters a lot. Now he interacts better with commander rerolls, TRCs, Thermal Shields, and more. The end result: he’s no longer too situational, but a legitimate competitive choice. 

Verdict: Expect to see more of him.

General Romodi

One of the most straightforward and effective admirals around. His ability rewards good positioning and doesn’t require an über-complex setup. Still excellent, still fairly priced at 25.

Verdict: Leave him alone.

General Tagge

The runt of the litter. The “two non-consecutive rounds” clause is clunky and restrictive. Remove it, and he’d be too powerful. Leave it, and he’s binder fodder. Tagge needs a total rework — maybe something Palpatine-like, or maybe an entirely new mechanic. As is, he ain’t it.

Verdict: Rework or send him to work in the spice mines of Kessel.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Still good. Still expensive. He’s fallen out of favor not because he’s weak, but because the Empire is spoiled for choice. Extra dials are immensely valuable, and his ability rewards players who can control the tempo of their fleet and build around Thrawn's ability to "double your efforts".

Verdict: Could test him at 30 points to see if he resurfaces more often, but he doesn’t feel broken at 32.

Grand Moff Tarkin

At 28 he’s… fine. The problem is that command tokens are easier to come by now, which makes him feel underwhelming. And in 400-point games you rarely have enough combat ships to fully exploit his effect. 

Verdict: Could drop a couple of points to encourage experimentation.

Moff Jerjerrod

The best bargain in the Imperial lineup. For 23 points you can bend your ships into firing position or safety, at the cost of a single shield. The value is insane. 

Verdict: Making him 25 wouldn’t be unreasonable, but he’s fine where he is too.

---

Final Verdict – Imperial Commanders

Imperial commanders are consistently strong and diverse. You’ve got cheap utility (Ozzel, Jerjerrod), reliable durability (Motti), positional mastery (Romodi), dice control (Screed, Vader), and even meta disruptors (Sloane, Palpatine). The only real failure is Tagge.

If anything, the Empire is spoiled. Their commanders set the gold standard for Armada — not because they’re overtuned, but because nearly all of them are viable. Compare that to Rebel, GAR, or CIS lineups, and you see how healthy the Imperial roster looks overall.

Next Up: Rebel Commanders.

The Upgrade Files: Case 18 – Officers (GAR & CIS)

Clone Wars officers highlight the double-edged nature of upgrade design. On one hand, many of them shore up the defensive gaps and command-token weaknesses of their factions. On the other hand, this makes them “patch cards”: your fleets lean heavily on a handful of officers to cover systemic flaws, which leads to key-piece stacking.

It’s also a pricing issue. Why would you ever run Veteran Captain at 2 points when CIS has Tikkes at 2? Why pay 7 for Raymus when you can take Rune Haako for 4 and get a better effect? Clone Wars officers are mostly excellent value, but the imbalance compared to older designs is glaring. Let’s dig in.

---

GAR Officers

Adi Gallia

A defensive gem. Effectively grants some extra Redirect mileage on anything that isn’t Tranquility. At 3 points she’s a steal — not as universally strong as Barriss, but still excellent. Her only drawback is eating up your officer slot.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Ahsoka Tano (GAR Officer)

Unlike her Rebel counterpart, this Ahsoka gives your non-unique squadrons Snipe. Sounds amazing — Torrent Snipe 4 with Swarm is very solid. The problem is platforms. She really belongs on an Acclamator-I, which isn’t a top-tier carrier. Venators want other officers, Peltas want Flight Controllers. Great card, limited by circumstance.

Verdict: Keep as is — too bad she lacks the perfect platform...

Barriss Offee

A strong defensive officer, but awkward to place in your fleet. Where does she go? Not on Tranquility. On Venators without Tranquility? I don't often run two Venators, though. She feels too expensive on smaller ships, plus they lack the staying power to make full use of her. Not bad, just situational.

Verdict: Keep as is, maybe try 5 points just to bring her usage up? 

Clone Captain Silver

The “Zak of speed control.” Lets you manipulate movement unpredictably, which is fantastic in theory. The catch: GAR is already terrible at navigation, so you really should be Nav-ing. 

Verdict: Fun card, 4 points is fair.

Clone Captain Zak

An absolute beast. At minimum, you’re buying 2 extra dice on key attacks for 5 points. On flankers like GARquitens or Consular Chargers, he’s incredible, but even larger ships love him. 

Verdict: A clear highlight of the GAR roster.

Clone Commander Wolffe

Errata improved him slightly, but assault commands remain niche. Six points, an officer slot, and a refresh cost? 

Verdict: Not worth it. Binder fodder.

Clone Navigation Officer

A very good generic support option. Token management is a GAR staple, and you can never have too many command tokens.

Verdict: Keep as is.

---

CIS Officers

Asajj Ventress

Fine if you’re running raid-heavy fleets (Dooku, TF-1726, Legacy HMPs), but uninspired otherwise. Would’ve been cooler with an offensive twist. Serviceable, not exciting.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Passel Argente

Play half the game with an extra command dial? Yes please.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Rune Haako

One of the best token officers in the game. Starts with 2 tokens, then pulls from other ships to feed your centerpiece. At 4 points he’s underpriced, but since CIS has no Comms Net flotillas, he’s allowed to break the curve.

Verdict: Keep as is.

San Hill

The new version is excellent — basically the CIS squadron equivalent of Zak. Three points is a steal, but compared to his peers, it’s consistent.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Shu Mai

Another great offensive officer. Requires planning, but rewards you with reliable output. 

Verdict: Could be 5 points, but 4 is fine.

T-Series Tactical Droid

Looks good on paper, but in practice, you’ll struggle to feed him tokens. Eats up an officer slot for little payoff. 

Verdict: Needs a cost reduction.

TI-99

Solid niche tech. Punishes enemies for attacking your fragile droid swarms, making them think twice about picking off Vultures or Hyenas. You can easily argue for him to be a 5-6 point card, but 4 is probably fine.

Verdict: Well worth the points in the right list. 

Tikkes

Two points for free tokens with an easy-to-manage downside. Top-tier efficiency. Realistically worth 3, but like Rune, he’s priced low to compensate for CIS’s token-starved fleet design.

Verdict: Keep as is.

Wat Tambor

At 5 points he was ridiculous. At 9 he’s maybe a bit steep — same price as Brunson — but better too expensive than too cheap. Still very usable, just not automatic anymore.

Verdict: Keep as is or make him 8.

---

Final Verdict – GAR & CIS Officers

Clone Wars officers are generally excellent, and often too excellent compared to older designs. GAR gets strong defensive and utility tools, but many are chained to underperforming platforms (Ahsoka on Acclamators, Barriss on non-Tranquility Vens). CIS, meanwhile, is swimming in token economy and support tech (Rune, Tikkes, Passel) that make older factions’ officers look laughable.

The downside? Heavy reliance on a small pool of “must-have” officers, leading to key-piece fleets where your flagship becomes a Christmas tree of upgrades. And newer ARC ships without flotillas still strain that economy further.

Overall: GAR and CIS officers are strong, sometimes underpriced, but locked into faction design quirks that make them less flexible than Rebel or Imperial counterparts.

Next Up: Commanders (Admirals), starting with Empire.