This guy is like a Tactics sniper. Just sits there and throws focus tokens at your units without putting himself in harms way. Jerk.

This guy is like a Tactics sniper. Just sits there and throws focus tokens at your units without putting himself in harms way. Jerk.

Thrawn does the unusual to obtain victory for the Empire. Using asteroids and hiding ships under clocking devices, all things that he did to achieve victory.

This card made me so happy...

It was done so artistically 

It was done so artistically 

 

I don't think I ever understood that quote. What was he talking about when he said that?

I don't think I ever understood that quote. What was he talking about when he said that?

He was talking about his own death, right?

If you declare Thrawn as an attacker a participant in an engagement, would you still be able to use his ability or would you be required to focus him to strike?

You can still use his ability. There is an action window before the edge battle, so you could declare Thrawn as a defender, then immediately use his action to focus an attacker. This can be a useful way to prevent unopposed damage. Alternately, you could wait until the action window that is after the edge battle. If you win, you'll have two black tactics to use. If you lose, you can still use his action to focus down one attacker.

It was done so artistically refers to his (failed) ambush at the Battle of Bilbringi

Sorry, just gonna toss out a few comments on the "it was done so artistically", since I'm a (self proclaimed) master of lore when it comes to the Star Wars EU. : )

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ThE THRAWN TRILOGY!!!!!!

First off: A slight correction, the quote is actually "But... It was so artistically done...", uttered by Grand Admiral Thrawn moments before his death (as mentioned previously, at the battle of Bilbringi), not "It was done so artistically" The rest, however, is purely my opinion (backed up by a lot of facts . In my opinion, the statement refers less to the failed ambush (as Thrawn was already beginning to turn around the battle of Bilbringi), since the Imperial fleet only fell into chaos AFTER his death. I think the statement refers more to his death (ruhk's assassination of him), and the general circumstances that lead to his death. A little bit of backstory: After a clone wars era battle over Honogr (the Noghri home world), the world became poisoned due to crashing capital ships and such. The empire (specifically Darth Vader), landed, was awed at the fighting prowess of the Noghri, and offered to repair their damaged world at the expense of employing the Noghri as bodyguards, spies, and assassins in the service of the empire. However, the imperials nanobots designed to "repair" the world were actually destroying it at the same time, leading to the world never being fully repaired, and therefore, eternal servitude for the Noghri people. During the events of the Thrawn Trilogy, Princess Leia exposes this, converting the Noghri people's servitude and gratefulness towards the Empire into rage over the Empire's betrayal. Because of this, Ruhk, the Noghri guarding Grand Admiral Thrawn, assassinates him during a key battle for the Empire's betrayal of the Noghri people. In my opinion, this leads me to believe that the "but... It was so artistically done..." refers to the New Republic making the one move that Thrawn couldn't predict: rather than attempting to board the Chimera (Thrawn's flagship) or defeat him in space combat (which would probably have been impossible), they convinced one of the few non-imperial groups that Thrawn trusted to turn against him. Sorry for the blog length post, I just really care SO MUCH about Thrawn as a character, and wanted to offer my own viewpoints on the matter.

TL;DR: The quote's slightly wrong, and IMO it refers to the Rebellion convincing Rukh to assassinate Thrawn (outsmarting his tactical genius)

This card made me so happy...

SAME!!!! it just captures Thrawn's tactical genius and ability to manipulate SO WELL!!!!!!! I've designed probably 17 sets of custom cards, and had always considered making a Thrawn Set, but none of my ideas ever came even remotely close to the pure awesomeness that is this design. Massive Shoutout to FFG for this design, it perfectly captures the essence of what made Thrawn such an awesome character. Whoever made this certainly did their homework. (And, the art is just perfect, too)

I thought it referred more to how the empire had managed to convince the Noghri to fight for them?

If I attack with a unit that isn't Thrawn and my opponent declares 1 defender and I then use Thrawn's effect to focus out that defender prior to the edge battle, will there still be an edge battle?

If I attack with a unit that isn't Thrawn and my opponent declares 1 defender and I then use Thrawn's effect to focus out that defender prior to the edge battle, will there still be an edge battle?

Yes.

 

1. There's always an edge battle, even if there's no defender (the attacker just automatically wins edge battles with no defender).

2. Being exhausted does not remove a unit from an engagement.  The defending unit is still participating in the engagement even though it is (currently) exhausted.  Thus you, as the attacker, will not automatically win the edge battle and both players may place edge cards.