So something my friends and I like to do every once in a while is to come up with "what if" scenarios in Star Wars (as I'm sure others do from time to time). So one night, I gave them the scenario of what if the greatest Jedi/Sith fleet tactician faced off against the greatest imperial admiral (and arguably the best fleet tactician ever)?

Knowing what we do from the Legends canon (as sadly neither of these characters exist in the current canon yet), who do you think would win in a fleet battle? My friends gave their opinions on the matter, but I'm curious what the Star Wars community thinks.

To keep things fair, let's pretend they go through several rounds with varying hypothetical scenarios:

Round 1: Revan and Thrawn have fleets of equal size, but use ships from their respective eras. The two fleets are in orbit around the same planet and within visual range of each other.

Round 2: Revan and Thrawn have fleets of equal size, but both fleets are using the same types of ship. For simplicity's sake, let's say they're both using Imperial-class Star Destroyers and Revan is hypothetically familiar with the capabilities of the Star Destroyers. Both fleets are in orbit around the same planet and within visual range of each other.

Round 3: Revan and Thrawn have fleets of equal size but use ships from their respective eras. The two fleets are on opposite "ends" of the same star system, but neither knows where their opponent's fleet is. Neither side can leave the system until the opponent's fleet is found and destroyed.

Round 4: Revan and Thrawn have fleets of equal size and are using ships from the same era (same ships and knowledge as from round 2). The two fleets are on opposite "ends" of the same star system, but neither knows where the opponent's fleet is. Neither side can leave the system until the opponent's fleet is found and destroyed.

Round 5: Revan and Thrawn have fleets of equal size, but are using ships they have no prior knowledge to. Both are in the same star system and know the location of the opponent's fleet. Neither fleet can leave the system until their opponent's fleet has been destroyed.

Have at it folks. I'm interested how people think each character's tactics and commanding abilities would affect the battle, especially if one side has a starting advantage/disadvantage. How would Revan compensate using ships from his era against Thrawns superior Star Destroyers? Would Thrawn be able to adapt quick enough to a sudden battle against Revan?

And if there are modifications you feel should be made for each round (such as more explanation if needed), feel free to say something.

Rounds 1 and 3 Thrawn wins by a landslide due to the overwhelming superiority of his vessels.

I think Revan might win 2, 4 and 5 though because I think Revan is one of the few fleet commanders in Thrawn's league in the setting

Revan wins all of them as he's a PC.

Plus Thrawn gets assassinated by a noghri

I feel like the force would give Reven too much of an advantage in several of these situations due to his ability to potentially perceive Thrawns thoughts and at least have a more in-depth understanding of the situation.

And as they say, knowledge is power.

Other than that I do not know enough about Thrawn to fairly campare them

Edit: to quote Wookieepedia referring to Revan "...his [tactical] skill was born out of a highly advanced battle precognition."

Thrawn is being described in the books as a genius military tactician without equal. Revan on the other hand is on a strategic level very capable proven by his total victory over the mandalorians and then his forging of a Sith Empire that was then able to defeat the Republic. As a tactician however he doesn't seem especially noteworthy, sure he was competent no doubt, but if I recall correctly he was pretty much always in battles with more ships and men than his opponents.

In a direct fleet battle I'd give Thrawn the edge in every scenario as winning fleet engagements is basically his thing, unless for some reason the old republic Sith ships are much more powerful than the Civil War era ships due to loss of technologies etc.. But on a strategic level (say a large scale campaign) it could go either way.

Thrawn is being described in the books as a genius military tactician without equal. Revan on the other hand is on a strategic level very capable proven by his total victory over the mandalorians and then his forging of a Sith Empire that was then able to defeat the Republic. As a tactician however he doesn't seem especially noteworthy, sure he was competent no doubt, but if I recall correctly he was pretty much always in battles with more ships and men than his opponents.

In a direct fleet battle I'd give Thrawn the edge in every scenario as winning fleet engagements is basically his thing, unless for some reason the old republic Sith ships are much more powerful than the Civil War era ships due to loss of technologies etc.. But on a strategic level (say a large scale campaign) it could go either way.

In other words his tactical guineas was not in deafeating superior forces but in creating situations where he had superior forces.

Because of this in a fair fight I still have to give it to Revans Precognition and superior Knowledge of the battle. Think of it like a chess game where Reven can see the entire Board and all the pieces but Thrawn can only see part of them. So even if he is a "better" tactician he will likely lose.

After considerable debate, this is the basic answer that my friends came up with (and I'm inclined to agree with them):

In a straight up fleet battle (assuming both sides have fleets of equal size and power), Revan would have the best chance of winning. However, in a situation like described in "Round 4", where the "when and where" can be flexible and there could be multiple battles, Thrawn would definitely win.

Thrawn would probably fight a couple lighter battles against Revan's fleet to get an idea of Revan's battle tactics and mindset, not caring much about the outcome of the battles. Then, Thrawn would start setting up situations and scenarios where his forces would have the advantage, and wouldn't get himself into a situation where Revan's impressive skill as a tactician would give the Sith lord the edge.

In short, Revan is an arguably better tactician while Thrawn is definitely a better strategist.

After considerable debate, this is the basic answer that my friends came up with (and I'm inclined to agree with them):

In a straight up fleet battle (assuming both sides have fleets of equal size and power), Revan would have the best chance of winning. However, in a situation like described in "Round 4", where the "when and where" can be flexible and there could be multiple battles, Thrawn would definitely win.

Thrawn would probably fight a couple lighter battles against Revan's fleet to get an idea of Revan's battle tactics and mindset, not caring much about the outcome of the battles. Then, Thrawn would start setting up situations and scenarios where his forces would have the advantage, and wouldn't get himself into a situation where Revan's impressive skill as a tactician would give the Sith lord the edge.

In short, Revan is an arguably better tactician while Thrawn is definitely a better strategist.

I can agree with this

Thrawn is being described in the books as a genius military tactician without equal. Revan on the other hand is on a strategic level very capable proven by his total victory over the mandalorians and then his forging of a Sith Empire that was then able to defeat the Republic. As a tactician however he doesn't seem especially noteworthy, sure he was competent no doubt, but if I recall correctly he was pretty much always in battles with more ships and men than his opponents.

In a direct fleet battle I'd give Thrawn the edge in every scenario as winning fleet engagements is basically his thing, unless for some reason the old republic Sith ships are much more powerful than the Civil War era ships due to loss of technologies etc.. But on a strategic level (say a large scale campaign) it could go either way.

so I did some research on thrawns campaign (via Wookieepedia) and it seems he won nearly all his engaments by creating "Local superiority" attacking where the republic was week and useing a series of "faints" to create weekness where he wanted it.

In other words his tactical guineas was not in deafeating superior forces but in creating situations where he had superior forces.

Often but not always true. In the opening battle of Heir to the Empire his forces had local inferiority but he still managed to win b identifying the enemy commander then setting up an attack which exploited a weakness n their mindset.