Delzethin Offers Second Roster Prediction: The Wild Roster

Nearly a month after his first full roster prediction video, Delzethin has released his second video offering his thoughts on a potential roster for Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo Switch. While his first video focused mostly on safe picks, the new one focuses on characters that are far more interesting than likely.

The video follows a lot of the ideas regarding roster speculation laid out in his first video. These key points include:

1. "Moveset potential and uniqueness are important!" - One of the main considerations Sakurai and his team make when choosing characters is whether they bring anything new to the table. The one exception is clone characters, who are usually added towards the end of development, after the rest of the roster has been finalized.
2. "It's all about the timing." - Aside from retro throwback characters like Mr. Game & Watch or Duck Hunt, most newcomers are typically pulled from more recent releases.
3. "Look at more than just the obvious!" - During the speculation cycle for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, many speculators focused on what they thought was the most obvious choice and ended up ignoring characters that actually made it into the final roster, such as Robin and Greninja.
4. "Adapt when necessary!" - Rather than suddenly jumping to the conclusion that oddball picks mean that there are no rules about who can make it in, look at the circumstances behind those picks to suss out why they were made, and base future predictions on that information.
5. "Try not to get too caught up on 'reps'." - Sakurai and his team are more interested in compelling newcomers than on which series matter most.

These guidelines were based on recurring patterns among roster picks, statements from Masahiro Sakurai and other developers who have worked on previous Smash titles, as well as the official project plan for Smash 3DS/Wii U.

While the safe roster video was focused on the idea that Smash Switch will be an iterative sequel - a new installment built heavily on re-used assets from the previous installment, much like what Splatoon 2 is to Splatoon - this video is focused on the idea that it's a new game built entirely from scratch, and as such makes some rather bold predictions.

After going over the full proposed roster, Delzethin also takes the time to discuss his honorable mentions - characters that didn't make it into either roster prediction video, but that he still considers a possibility for Smash for Switch.

Author's note: What are your thoughts on Delzethin's roster predictions? What do you think the Smash for Switch roster will look like?

 

Both this and the safe roster were really good videos! In terms of what we'll actually get in the base roster I have a feeling it will be kind of mix of things from both roster ideas. But only time will tell.

 

That's funny, because those 5 points have been voiced repeatedly in this thread:
https://smashboards.com/threads/your-criteria-for-the-roster.454829/

Agreeable.

Hopefully the developers do not make the same mistakes made with tr4sh (like nerfing characters for no reason).

 

If Steve makes it in I’m just not buying the game lets put it like that.

 

Recently watched both videos and I like some of the points this guy brings up. Some things I didn't consider but make a lot of sense:

-Lycanroc being on the table, maybe even more so than Decidueye.

-Pyra AND Rex.

-Rolling updates with some returning veterans being delayed for major revamps.

-Monster Hunter and "Steve" being big enough gaming icons to be considered.

-Mii Spellcaster is low key brilliant.

Meanwhile, there's some things I disagree with:

- K.Rool before Dixie or even being considered "safe." Definitely would put him on the "Wild" roster.

-Shantae not being considered at all despite international releases and Sakurai even meeting with Way Forward a couple of years ago.

-Spring Man/Ribbon Girl not making the initial roster. You could probably count the new successful franchises that Nintendo has released in the past 5 years on one hand and ARMS easily is second only to Splatoon. Would be a strange omission.

Still, good stuff. Solid videos.