Smashboards

the question to start with when deciding a default roster should typically be "what will inevitably be added at some point". shovel knight is a good call for instance because you can say with near certainty that shovel knight would be a logical pick that someone would submit. as for someone like sans, it makes slightly less sense, because there's a lot of undertale/deltarune picks that could be added in place of sans specifically even if you know with reasonable certainty that an undertale/deltarune pick would be added.

i feel like if you literally just start with shovel knight it's a good place to go from because you can branch out in any way you see fit from that point forward but that's just me

But like I want multiple franchises repped in the initial roster since my first track job involved submitting a circuit track based on a franchise from the existing roster, more options means more people are more likely to join

I probably just wouldn't have a starter - most threads do, but only for garunteed locks, and who knows? Maybe your thread will focus more on oddities or underdogs and Shovel Knight doesn't quite fit there.