Empire

The Empire faction was extremely dominant early on with the Royal Guard enabling the "4x4" archetype, and requiring a nerf. Later, Empire was still widely played with Stormtrooper lists featuring Kayn Somos, then later on Agent Blaise and spies. Jabba's Realm brought Jet Troopers which became the de-facto trooper choice from then on, but the biggest change came with Heart of the Empire, with the massive buff to Darth Vader. From that point on, most lists featured Vader as a queen piece. In the late era, Thrawn was a noteworthy addition because of his excellent disruptive ability and became an auto include in most imperial lists, but more in a support capacity.