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human
[Star Wars] How great of a military leader is Thrawn?

Is he a genius based on his shown feats or  because the plot demands it? kinda like how Clone troopers are praised as super soldiers while being incompetent in almost all of their depiction. (I mainly blame the Jedi,though)
gpt
In the Expanded Universe, he's shown to be genuinely highly competent. His specific skill seems to be pulling together various, disparate points of information and being able to figure out connections between them. This is both in terms of predicting an enemy's actions by viewing bits of data others would see as meaningless, and in terms of putting together  a cohesive plan based on little individual points others might not be able to connect. Much of his success was based on this combination of predicting enemy actions and then pulling out a plan they had not expected.

But it goes beyond that. Unlike many Imperial commanders who viewed their casualties as meaningless and reserves indefinite, Thrawn was used to making do with little. He maximized every unit's effectiveness, avoided bloody and pitched battle while striking his enemies where they were weak, and knew when to fold his cards and retreat. He didn't let pride get in his way, and kept his eyes on the actual objective.

And, of course, he was a genuinely good leader to his men: Not just inspiring, but also fair and reasonable with them. Combine in the feeling Thrawn didn't just consider them expendable, it's understandable why other officers and even rank-and-file would have fought well for him.