I missed most of the summer chapters, but I've enjoyed all of them, with this one especially. Zoro's back, and it's just the Captain and his (arguable) First Mate. I'm excited to see what happened to the rest of the crew, and I like the reveal of one of the key parts of Basil's DF. It never crossed my mind that the straw dolls could be voodoo dolls, and thus redirected any damage sustained to his subordinates.
That said, it says a lot about his personality: Hawkins views his crew as expendable. We haven't met any of his crew by name, and it looks like most of them are fodder, but I don't doubt that he would use his closest crewmates if he had to. If you're willing to trade one of their lives for your own, then it seems far more likely than not that he would do the same with your own first mate. I could be entirely wrong, but that's just my first impression. Also, is his Tarot reading a part of his power? If it is, that has the potential to as devastating as the Ope Ope.