I run a Phoenix team right now, (because I could get Thrawn and Palps. since Phoenix count as Rebels.) Couldn't resist running them in the arena and immediately began climbing by taking out Night Sister teams.) all 7* but only Gear Lev. 8, all abilities Lev. 7 except I accidentally Omega'd Choppers basic, which barely did anything.
Anyway, in GW and the Arena toons that give me trouble are burst damage characters like Vader and Fett, Old Bens AoE ability block strips the PS of their Protection Up, and Ezra's dual attack (which is the PS version of a burst attack.)
That being said yes Sith teams with Palps are good at killing Phoenix I think the spirit of the OP was asking how to take on Phoenix WITHOUT super characters like Palps, Thrawn, CLS etc. So an "more easily" acquirable anti-Phoenix team would be Old Ben, Bariss, Sith Trooper, Death Trooper, and Nihilus. Nihilus Force Drain is an AoE attack that can ignore Canaan and Chopper's taunts, and his basic attack dispels buffs so it will dispel their protection up. Sith Trooper has an AoE attack that ignores protection you get THE idea.
Lastly regardless of what team you're using you need a strategy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Phoenix team, the devil is in the details. Study their abilities, their kit makes them into a Swiss Army Knife-like team. They can Expose, dual Taunt, dual dispell enemy buffs, Heal, automatically gain health at end of their turns, automatically gain protection on their turns, Stun, Stagger, Self debuff, gain Turn Meter, take enemy Turn Meter, revive defeated allies, gain Protection up on being hit, counter attack, GROUP counterattack, assist attacks automatically, and all while hiding behind easily sustainable walls of Protection up. When I read all that they did I thought GW here come the Phoenix's and it worked, they clear GW for me most days, can auto most of it, with a few emergency interventions on my part, they routinely auto node 6 and have even quoted autoed node 11 a time or 2.
Okay back to strategy: Hera grants the PS the ability to share their uniques, so take her out and their abilities will be crippled. Theoretically. (I'll explain later) Hera also Revives defeated allies. So you want to eliminate her first right? Wrong, here's why: Chopper has the highest (at stock level) speed of the team and Taunts before you can touch Heras health, but more than that his unique ability grants him 15% Protection Up upon being hit, which he shares it with other Phoenix making killing them extremely annoying to kill. Killing Hera SHOULD stop Chopper from sharing this ability but I've faced Phoenix teams where they STILL gained 15% protection up when hit, Hera was defeated and Chopper was not, and the toon I hit that gained 15% Protection Up was NOT Chopper. I then defeated Chopper and no toons gained 15% Protection up after that.
So Kill chopper first, start killing Hera, yes Ezra is dangerous but not as dangerous as Hera trust me, if Canaan Taunts dispell it if you can, if you can't attack him until his Taunt is expired or he dies, and get back on killing Hera, after her fine take out Ezra, then Zeb. If the squad has Sabine in place of Chopper, they have sacrificed protection for power, and are easier to kill. Sabine can Expose and AoE attack and delivers burst damage, but your tough-guy squad can handle it, Hera first, Canaan when he taunts Sabine/ Ezra in whichever order you see fit, Zeb.
Also I read that you'll lose rank in the Arena if you go with Phoenix because of bad AI, but Phoenix teams I've faced have been frustrating and not too bad, mostly the match just times out. I have run Phoenix in the Arena for two months now and only gone down in rank twice. I think players do like I did at first. "Hmm, I need two Arena matches for my dailies, lets see, these guys? . . . no too powerful, Palpatine? heck no . . . eew, Night Sisters, PASS, Phoenix, ugh, PASS . . . " I people can beat me they just are too lazy to. Using this theory I routinely beat Night Sister teams now.
Hope this helps someone.
