Finally a new day for which I'm feeling inspired enough to write a well developped argumentation not copy-pasted from a previous post of mine. I'm also happy it gets rated before we got more Smash news, as it's virtually the most likely thing to be either confirmed or deconfirmed once we get them.
Reused veteran artworks chances: 40%
I'm pretty sure there are people who wonder why I even nominated this in the first place. And no it's not by sheer lack of imagination about what the new artworks could look like. I admit even myself I would not have remotely considered it if it wasn't for a few specific factors. The most important one is the amiibo. Nintendo already has a line of Smash amiibo and I'm not sure about them launching a second Smash amiibo line depicting mostly characters who already have a Smash amiibo: it might be better to reprint the old ones and put them in a new packaging that advertises Smash Switch rather than Smash Wii U. Also the artstyle of the initial Smash Switch teaser is very similar to that of Smash 4 CGI trailers, meaning no major artstyle shift from Smash Wii U to Smash Switch, making Smash 4 artworks reusable without clashing. It would be akin to something like the returning Pokémon in seventh generation games appearing exactly the same as in generation 6.
Now for the arguments against it:
It never happened before! aka
Melee got new artworks, Brawl did, and so did 3DS/Wii U. Why would anyone expect this?
It is obviously unprecedented, which means my idea is a bit of a gambit. It's however okay to be prepared for unprecedented things if you think there are legitimate reasons why it could plausibly happen like I do.
Nintendo will just do another Smash amiibo line!
This is a possibility and would go against my "Nintendo will simply reprint old amiibo" hypothesis. It's debatable whether they might benefit more from the savings of not having to redesign a new line or from the collector interest that could come from veterans getting a brand new pose. Will reprinted amiibo in a different packaging sell as much as newcomer amiibo? (or veterans in a new appearance — see the "Link appears as BotW Link!" argument) Maybe yes if Nintendo finds a new audience that missed on Smash 4 and its amiibo line, maybe not if they're under-hyped compared to new ones and do not find a market audience to collectors who might be interested in having Smash characters in a brand new pose. Or maybe Nintendo will not do anything about amiibo for Smash 5 but it sounds unlikely.
Smash Switch is not going to be a port of Smash Wii U!
I'm pretty sure people might rate this concept with the idea of Smash Switch being possibly a port in mind. We have evidence against it being a port, and I myself do not expect Smash Switch to be close enough to the Wii U version to be rightfully be called a port. The fact it got its own teaser and Nintendo is still building up sunpense upon this new Smash entry alongside its development that probably started about two years ago mean it's very likely to be of enough caliber to rightfully be called an entry of a new generation of Smash. However, I believe artworks being reused is possible even Smash Switch not being considered a port.
Link appears as BotW Link!
Smash characters getting different amiibo depicting them in different costumes is not unprecedented.
So if we get BotW Link as an alt for Link then we will both have the reprinted old Link amiibo and the new Smash BotW Link amiibo. There is another more legitimate reason however to believe that BotW Link might be evidence against the concept. It's BotW Link's right-handedness, while Smash Link has always been left-handed. It's possible to have an alt left-handed and another alt right-handed, but there's the fact that Smash doesn't ignore the Z-axis: there might be concerns about both Links in this case having slightly different hitboxes, which would make them incompatible as being the same characters, as alts must not have gameplay differences, forcing good old green Link to go right-handed too. If it can't be worked out, then they might do an exception for Link by ditching his old artwork and not that of other characters, but I don't like this kind of reasoning of moving the goalposts. Or BotW Link has is own character slot, but I do not except nor like this idea.
Reusd artworks want: 59%
Smash Switch reusing Smash 4 character artworks might make it feel like less of a true revolution which is fine by me. Smash 4 is great and I'm fine with the next entry feeling like an enhanced Smash experience that doesn't change as drastically as the Melee-Brawl or Brawl-Smash 4 transition, and I would like my Smash amiibo to depict the fighters the same as they appear in the new Smash. However it's ultimately not something I deeply care about; if it doesn't happen, my gambit will have failed, but that's fine.
Edit: forgot prediction and nominations, adding them before it's too late.
Ganon prediction: 16.65%
Nominating:
Playable newcomer: Mimikyu x3
Retruning game mode: Smash Run x2
Edit 2: Lucas from The Wizard got added to the results table with more than a flat zero in chance like come on really?
