Grand Admiral Thrawn

Undoubtedly the single best commander in the game, Grand Admiral Thrawn has almost singlehandedly changed how squads work. Before Universe, competitive squads virtually always consisted of a few powerful Unique pieces, with Stormtroopers and such existing mostly to fill in the last few points. With the coming of the new commanders in Universe (especially Thrawn), it’s much harder to discount the value of fielding an army of faceless grunts.
So what exactly does the Grand Admiral bring to the table? Let’s go point-by-point:

1. Initiative control. Unless you roll a “1,” you are considered to have won the initiative roll. This is even better than it seems, because on the rare occasions you do lose initiative, your opponent will probably not be in a position to exploit that (since they’ve been assuming you’ll win every round). The only reason to be concerned about losing initiative, really, is if you’re up against another Thrawn squad.
2. Force Immunity. Every character within 6 squares of Thrawn gains Force Immunity (under the current FAQ ruling). This not only protects against Force Lightning and the like, but more importantly prevents the use of defensive powers like Lightsaber Deflect against the attacks of anyone in the bubble.
3. Grunt buff. +3 Attack and +3 Defense to all non-unique followers within 6 squares. This is not only amazing, but it’s one of only two CEs in the game that improve Defense (and Yoda, Jedi Master only gives a +2). What makes this just ridiculous is that Empire’s Defense numbers tend to be pretty good. With Thrawn, you can have a 5-point Stormtrooper in cover with an effective Defense of 23.
4. Position swap. This ability is unlike anything else in the game. It’s an offensive maneuver, letting you run a Gran Raider up to an enemy piece, then swap him for a beatstick. It’s a defensive move, pulling a wounded piece back towards the healer. In your more sophisticated squads, it can also be used to get a Momentum or Charging Assault piece back away from its poor victim without drawing an attack of opportunity. It’s simply incredible all the way around.
5. Decent numbers. For an essentially noncombatant commander, Thrawn has very respectable numbers of his own. His +12 to hit and 80 hit points mean he can trade blows with mid-range threats and come out on top (though he really shouldn’t, unless the situation is dire). True story: The first time I played with Universe pieces was a sealed tournament in which I was lucky enough to pull Thrawn. The game eventually came down to my Thrawn versus my opponent’s Naboo Flash Speeder, and Thrawn won. This is just one of the many reasons why the Grand Admiral is a common sight in competitive play, while the Flash Speeder isn’t.
   

Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the most important pieces in the game, and will likely continue to be so for a good while.

Overall rating in 100: 2.5 (he does take up more than a third of your points, which makes it difficult to get the support you need)
Overall rating in 200: 5