Here's my first crack at this, may update it later.
Everyone who isn't confirmed yet is listed after Ridley, including who I think could be Echo Fighters of already existing characters so they're easier to see, despite Nintendo's insistence on ordering numbering them with their base character. Order is entirely new Nintendo characters, Echo Fighters, then new third party characters. I will list why I think they're getting in, and what my person opinion is. And yes, I will admit that this is me mostly playing things safe.
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Nintendo originals;
Ashley: WarioWare's breakout character who Nintendo loves and promotes a lot, had an assist trophy in 4 that we haven't seen yet and had a Mii costume as well. I'm honestly a bit surprised that they haven't announced her already alongside WarioWare Gold, but maybe timing new character announcements with game releases was a Sm4sh thing.
King K. Rool: Like Ridley, he's been a highly requested Nintendo villain for years from a franchise whose main character has been in Smash since Smash 64, and apparently they renewed the copyright for him in 2015 when the roster was likely finalized. Also, he had a Mii costume. He's one who I've personally wanted despite not having ever played DKC or DK64.
Bandana Waddle Dee: Being the 4th main character of Masahiro Sakurai's first baby really helps your chances. Also, that one guy (I apologize for forgetting his name) who said that Daisy was going to be playable in SSBU because of how her amiibo was coded did say that Bandana Waddle Dee's amiibo is coded the same way, which is something that I personally think is a legit leak. I can't complain about a spear user getting in.
Decidueye: Greninja 2.0, a very popular starter Pokémon from the newest games who was likely chosen because he looks cool and can have a unique fighting style, which may be somewhat improvised and based on concept art. I have yet to play Sun and Moon, but I liked Greninja so I think that this is a good follow up choice.
Mach Rider: My reasoning for this is entirely based on
PapaGenos' video on the subject, so I'll just leave the link. His theme is badass enough to warrant me wanting him to be in the game.
Elma: I know nothing about Xenoblade, except that it's popular enough to have a second character from one of the sequels, and everybody is saying that Elma is the most likely choice. I have no real opinion on this since I know nothing about Xeno anything.
Geno: (Yes I know he's owned by Square, but his only proper game appearance is in Super Mario RPG so he's very close to being Nintendo even though they don't own him) Sakurai has wanted to use him for years, he got a Mii costume after Cloud was added to 4, and
Bowser's video has a remix of his fight theme from Super Mario RPG, so it seems like Geno may finally get his turn in Smash. I need to finish SMRPG some time, but I do remember him being awesome, so I'm very excited for him having a very good chance of getting in.
Echo Fighters;
Ninten: Cloning somebody who already has a semi-clone seems a bit overkill, but the first installment in the Mother trilogy getting a representative makes a ton of sense, especially now that there's an official international release of the first game. I'd be cool with it.
Dark Samus: I'm in the camp of people who think that her assist trophy not being shown yet and Samus' alt based on Dark Samus being gone means something, cliche I know. I have no problem with this.
Dixie Kong: Part of the forbidden 7 whose return would make sense, and Diddy Kong's tail attack being removed is highly suspicious. Since she was supposed to fight with Diddy in the style of the Ice Climbers in Brawl, her being an Echo Fighter makes sense, but I can see her being a semi clone. I'd be totally cool with somebody who was previously cut finally getting in.
Chrom: Main character of the game that gave Fire Emblem new life, it still very popular despite Robin making it in instead of him, and we have yet to see Robin's final smash, and he had a Mii costume. He would make an easy Ike clone too. This is the only choice who I am opposed to because I'm sick of Fire Emblem overkill, but it makes a ton of sense to me so I'm not going to try and deny that.
Shadow: His assist trophy being seemingly replaced with Knuckles is rather odd, and he hasn't been shown in the background of Green Hill Zone where Knuckles used to be, so I think that he's playable this time.
I really don't understand how he's different enough from Sonic to not be a clone without him using guns or something edgy like that, and give how similar their designs are, he's the perfect clone. I'm not a big Sonic fan but I'd be fine with it.
Isabelle: Assist trophy is gone, she had a Mii costume, Animal Crossing is a massive franchise that only has one character, she's been a very popular character for a while now, and Vergeben said that she's in, so this one is a closed case for me. While she could be a unique fighter, Villager already has an improved moveset that takes from a lot of elements of the series, so making another moveset for a series that's very calm and involves no fighting normally seems a bit hard. I'm friends with several people who like Animal Crossing a lot so I'd be happy.
Ken: The original fighting game clone, not including him would be a missed opportunity. It's also worth noting that download Ryu for 4 gives you a Ken trophy, so this may have been planned ahead of time. This is the Echo who I want the most, Ken is my favorite Street Fighter character (original, I know), and I'd love to be able to use him for the fire Shoryuken alone.
Original third parties:
Tails: Him being removed from the background of Green Hill Zone is really strange, and he did have a Mii costume. Given how monumental Sonic being in Smash Bros is, he deserves to bring his sidekick along, so I actually want him in a lot despite not knowing much about Sonic.
Simon Belmont: First off, I trust Vergeben, and expect Simon to be announced along with those two new Castlevania games in October near the time of the second season of the Netflix series, since Konami regretted not having a new game around the time that season 1 aired. But aside from that, Konami being involved at all with Snake and Bomberman being in the game shot Simon up to being a very likely newcomer anyway, since he has way more history with Nintendo then Snake. As a major Castlevania nerd, I want Simon in the most out of any newcomers. Bring it on.
Heihachi Mishima: Sakurai wanted to use him for the Namco character in 4 before deciding to go with Pac-Man instead (which is a smart move), and he got a Mii costume. Since they have Ryu who uses Street Fighter mechanics, adding somebody from Tekken with Tekken mechanics makes a lot of sense (after all, rage is from Tekken 6), plus it would be the perfect thing to show at EVO 2018, unless Goku is somehow in the base roster. While I'm not that big of a fan of Heihachi personally, having somebody from Tekken would be a good idea, and I would love the irony of someone from PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale being in Smash.
Rayman: Nintendo and Ubisoft are very friendly right now, and I always assumed that his trophy model in 4 was something that Ubisoft cooked up in an attempt to get him into the roster, which happened way too late. I think that he could make a nice newcomer, despite knowing nothing about his games myself.
Shovel Knight: The optimal indie choice given how much inspiration his game takes from popular NES games, also he is the first non-Nintendo character who isn't in SSB4 to get his own amiibo. I still need to get Shovel Knight, but getting anybody from an indie game would be a great idea in my book.
has stolen your game's theme.
