Replacing Phoenix Arena Team - Empire vs Rebels

I would go empire. While your team isn't the current meta, empire is a lot closer to it. Rebels are weak vs palp lead so your choice is use palp or have your rebels beaten by him. Good rebel teams can compete against palp lead but to be on equal ground you'll need better mods or gear. With empire you can beat rebels that have better mods and gear than you. You'll probably want to gear both to an extent with ls and ds tb and tw but I would focus on empire first.