Doubtful. You’ll pick up Thrawn and Palps “for free” but the rest of your Empire characters are 4* or under.
Stay the course, finish starring your Phoenix and slap another gear level on them. You really want to be able to bank of them getting you a 7* EP and Thrawn, as these two(and Vader) will be pivotal in getting R2, and will likely become your post-Phoenix Arena team. For example, I’m top 10-20 on a 2+ year old shard and use them currently in Arena. Pretty much any other 2 Empire begins those 3 will work, but I’d highly recommend TFP and Tarkin since they are pilots. Storm would also be decent choice if you’re hesitant on spending Cantina energy on TFP since he’s a tank.
One of the worst habits anyone can develope in this game is losing focus and jumping about from project to project. It’s far better to have 5-10 maxed characters for your level then 30 mediocrely geared/leveled characters.