I don't think I've said this before, but I'm actually really confident about Isaac's chances this time around.
I think he's gonna make, that's what my gut is telling me.
The only problem for me now is that we have to go potentially ~2 months until we get any news.
For me, it still comes down to how many newcomers we get. And the longer we go with no news, the fewer newcomers there are likely to be.
If there were a ton of newcomers, the reveals would likely be all spaced out. If there's only a couple... Well, if we're right and release is in September with the paid online, we could be looking at as few as seven, I figure.
The Inklings.
3 at E3.
3 in a Smash Direct before release.
So, I've been trying to figure out the top most likely to get in.
1. Inklings (they're already confirmed)
2. K. Rool (say what you like, that costume and his ballot polling makes me think he's got a good chance)
3. Takamaru (I think Sakurai put him in as an AT to test reactions. He also got a costume, I think his shots are good)
4. Dixie Kong (Important member of a franchise that Nintendo is paying more and more attention to)
5. Ridley (He's STILL heavily requested)
6. Bandana Dee (By far most likely newcomer for a Kirby rep, and Kirby is still a huge franchise)
7. Elma (Her game came at the right time for choosing characters, a Xenoblade rep is not unreasonable, and the "mech with gun" toy Sakurai bought for reference could be for building her skell)
8. A Pokémon (Not sure which one, but we'll probably get one)
9. Waluigi (I'm not sure, but he does have a lot of fans, and might have had ballot support too)
10. Isaac
The thought that I can't build a team of ten obvious newcomers without including Isaac is heartening. But we'll probably have a WTF rep in there, and I could be wrong about who is likely. So I consider this list as actually being at least twelve characters long. And I don't know that we're getting twelve newcomers.
If I was making the list, I wouldn't be worried. But who would Sakurai axe if the project doesn't have as many newcomers as we'd like? Isaac might have been on the chopping block before (if his AT was pulled with the thought that he may be playable). He might get it again.