Starck uses his AOE first on auto/defense.
I'm personally still running Zader/Wampa/EP/Thrawn/GK, but I'll admit I've got the mod advantage over all the Empire/Sith teams in my shard at the moment.
I think having IPD in there instead of GK might actually be the move. All the Sith/Empire use their AOEs right away so a tank isn't exactly going to be doing a whole lot. Having IPD in their with Nihilus gives you a rather high damage potential.
That brings up a question I had though, does Expose being triggered also trigger the TM gain from EP's lead? I don't have IPD yet, but I'm curious.