The Stars - the only BBL side without a title - moved to the top of the ladder on Sunday thanks to a nine-wicket win, chasing down the 129-run target with 36 balls remaining.
Joe Clarke (60 off 37 balls), Sam Harper (29 not out off 27) and Glenn Maxwell (39 not out off 20) all found a fluency that had eluded the Thunder batters as Pakistan quick Haris Rauf (3-29) set the tone.
Clarke timed the ball superbly before Maxwell iced the contest with a series of conventional and reverse sweeps that peppered both sides of Manuka Oval.
Maxwell then put a full-stop on a dominant evening with his second six of the game, this time straight down the ground, to pass the target.
His first maximum took Maxwell to 150 BBL sixes, becoming only the second person to achieve the feat, but still well behind Chris Lynn, who has scored an incredible 220 sixes for the Heat and the Strikers.
"We can't complain; we're in a nice spot and we have to run with this momentum and we're doing that," Stars captain Marcus Stoinis said.
"Different boys are contributing; it feels good, it's clinical."
Earlier, Sam Konstas (11 off 15) was close to being run-out twice in his short stay, and opening partner Matt Gilkes (24 off 13) had two lives before succumbing to Rauf all in the same over.
That pair at least gave the Thunder (1-3) an early boost, Gilkes powering them to 0-23 after two overs before both were dismissed and the brakes applied.
David Warner hit Stoinis (2-25) on to the Manuka Oval roof, but was dismissed off the next ball and the Thunder limped to 4-64 after 10 overs and never accelerated.
Rauf dismissed Sam Billings just as he threatened to build an innings of substance, then celebrated for a third time when Chris Green flicked a ball straight to short fine leg.
Stars recruit Mitchell Swepson (2-18 from four overs) made an instant impact, the spinner knocking over Konstas with his first delivery, then trapping Cameron Bancroft in front.
"We've shown we can also drag it back; they started off well," Stoinis said.
"It shows we're in the contest and thinking clearly.
"It (the Stars' good energy) started last year; it felt like we'd never left and the messages were quite clear." Â
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