Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster Thread

[Bayopuff]

Here's my dream roster, I'm assuming there'll be 8 newcomers:

Spoiler: My Newcomers

Inkling
Ridley
Simon
K. Rool
Ayumi Tachibana
Chorus Kids
Geno
Takamaru/Heihachi

 

[GalacticPetey]

Post Direct roster. I think 8 unique and 8 echoes. This would be pretty similar to what we got in Melee.

Unique:
-Inkling
-Ridley
-Simon Belmont
-King K. Rool
-Tapu Koko
-Bandana Dee
-Skull Kid
-Geno

The focus seems to be on fan demand and aside from a Gen VII mon which almost guarnteed, the other newcomers are big names who have a shot. Do note they're all from already repped franchises. Since we don;t seem to be getting any more stages, I don't foresee a Golden Sun or Rhythm Heaven character without a stage. All four of these newcomers have thing going for them. Between demand (Dee), Sakurai's history with wanting them (Geno), or do a lack of appearance thus far in game (Skull Kid).

Echoes:
-Daisy
-Richter Belmont
-Chrom
-Dark Samus
-Isabelle
-Shadow
-Impa
-Dixie Kong

We now know with Chrom and Dark Samus that echoes can have a bit more of a unique flair to them, which really helps Shadow and Dixie who I can see getting separate up specials as well as unique animations all around. Isabelle is on here partially cause of Verge and because she's popular. Impa is admittedly personal bias as with K. Rool and Ridley in, she's now my most wanted, but I think she meets all the criteria to be a Sheik echo.

 

[Shroob]

Well until the next Direct or major leak, this is my prediction:

8 newcomers and 8 echos.

Newcomers:

Inkling
Ridley
Simon
King K.Rool
Skull Kid
Incineroar(Or any Gen7 'mon)
Karate Joe(Or Chorus Men)
Geno

Echoes:

Daisy
Richter
Chrom
Dark Samus
Dixie
Isabelle
Shadow
Ken

 

[7NATOR]

No im not smoking.

I have my reasoning for this roster. im still not sure on this being the total roster, but im confident in these characters making it in

Blue: Veteran

Green: Confirmed

Red: Unique Newcomers

Yellow: Echoes (and in the case of Ken and Dixie at least, while i see them sharing the same stats as their respective parent character, i think they will be the most unique echoes, to the point where you could even consider them Semi-clones, though with no stat changes

 

[Loungemen]

how boy we're going this again aren't we

Echoes:
Galacta Knight - We really have no proper Kirby villain, with Meta and Dedede being rivals. Thought Galacta can be a fit, even if he's an echo
Dixie Kong - Pretty much a shoe-in at this point. We all know how Chrom is a Roy echo with an Ike up special. This can be applied to Dixie who can have Donkey Kong's up special
Shadow - ...also a shoe-in basically. Like Chrom and Dixie, his up special can be changed to Mewtwo's
Viridi - I've thought about this one for a while; she's on the Reset Bomb Forest stage, but then again how do you explain Great Bay and the Moon AT. Probably my most wanted echo so far.

I originally planned Ken, Akuma, and Isabelle.

Newcomers:
Geno - At this point, if Sakurai really wants to include Geno as a fighter, he can just do so; it also helps that he's a pretty strong ballot contender.
Isaac - Having not played any Golden Sun game, I was hesitant about Isaac. He's pretty popular here, that's all I can really say.
Bandana Dee - My most wanted character. He's incredibly popular in Japan, similar how Ridley's incredibly popular overseas. He's also the current top pick for the Japanese ballot since K Rool is out of the way.
Banjo and Kazooie - If Microsoft themselves say Banjo can be in Smash, hopefully Sakurai has no objections. Plus, for the first time in over a decade, the bear and bird can finally return home.

I originally planned a 7th gen Pokemon and Elma, which, I hope I'm wrong and decide to come forth.

 

[Sheng Long]

This roster here is probably what I think it could be. It's a bit large, but I listed in characters who I thought can make it in so it's more of a map than an actual roster if that makes any sense.

Unique:
Captain Toad - I have a feeling that there will be a unique Mario newcomer and he is the most likely one in my opinion.

Bandana Dee - There is a need for a new Kirby character and Bandana Dee is getting increasingly popular so I believe Sakurai will put him in.

Skull Kid - Just like Kirby, there is a great need for a unique Zelda character, even more so than any other franchise in my opinion. Alongside with the Moon being an assist now, I think Skull Kid has a chance as he hasn't been deconfirmed yet.

Decidueye - 7th gen Pokemon rep and also fully evolved grass starter rep.

Isaac - He's another one wanted a lot by the fans, he's a similar case like K. Rool in terms of how the fans want him so he has a high chance (also I forgot to put him in the roster).

Rex - Might be DLC, but Sakurai really enjoys Xenoblade 2 so I would not be surprised if Rex made it in.

Spring Man - Also could be DLC due to being more recent, but as a new Nintendo ip, he cannot miss this chance in Smash.

New Retro Character - Could be anyone, I just put in Starman because he's a wrestling character and would be interesting.

Tails - Knuckles is an assist and if Konami has 3 reps, then I would say that the other third parties could chip in one or two more characters. Tails just makes sense to me for Sega to put into Smash.

Lloyd - Heihachi probably has a better chance, but I think Lloyd did well in the ballot and also made it in as a Mii costume in the previous game so I'm hoping Namco and Sakurai can make Lloyd in Smash a reality (maybe as DLC).

Geno - Sakurai had talked about putting Geno in Smash before and he is a heavily requested character in every Smash that comes out (kinda like K. Rool and Ridley hmmmm).

Rayman - Ubisoft and Nintendo's relationship is growing and the best way to show this even more is to put Rayman in Smash. Fox is already appearing in Ubisoft's new ip, so why not have Rayman in Smash? He was a trophy in the last game and right now is the perfect time for Rayman to be in Smash.

Crash Bandicoot - DLC character most likely if he were to be in. Similarly to how Cloud was revealed, the reveal for Crash could be similar and it seems that more western characters are making it into Smash.

Travis Touchdown - Another DLC character. Goichi Suda really wants Travis in Smash and I think fans of the series would appreciate it as well. His reveal would probably be very similar to the Bayonetta one (M-rated character from a smaller third party).

Banjo & Kazooie - Phil Spencer said it was okay and this is yet another wanted character in the same vein as K. Rool, Ridley, and Geno. Sakurai seems to be really listening to the fanbase and wants to make this Smash a real blast to play so this could actually happen.

Echoes:
Dry Bowser - Bowser echo. He seems to be pretty popular in the Mario spin-offs so I figure that Dry Bowser is a good candidate for Smash. Plus an undead character would be cool.

Dixie Kong - Diddy echo. She is a very wanted character and since K. Rool made it in, I would not be surprised if Sakurai placed Dixie as the sweet cherry on top for DK fans. Remember that echoes can be slightly different like Chrom and Dark Samus so she could have some hair attacks.

Booster - Ah yes BOOSTER.... Wario echo. So another Mario RPG rep? Now hear me out, I think he could be a viable choice for an echo character if Geno makes it in. It would be a nice bonus. Likely? I don't think so. Nice? Of course. (Boshi could also be a Yoshi echo.)

Dr. Luigi - Luigi/Dr. Mario echo, not sure. I just placed him here because he really fits in Smash right now, but he doesn't seem very likely.

Dark Meta Knight - Meta Knight echo. Galacta Knight is another choice, but I chose DMK because he's relevant again in Star Allies and I think he has a cool moveset there as well. He would also be a Kirby villain character which is great.

Tetra - Toon Link echo. We have 3 Links so why not a third Zelda? I could see this happening.

Yuga - Ganondorf echo. With Zelda being based off of her Link to the Worlds self, I think Yuga would the perfect to be in as a Ganondorf echo (just replace the sword with a rod/staff instead). Another Zelda villain would be nice too.

Blaziken - Lucario echo. Blaziken has been wanted by many and is pretty popular so making him like a fire version of Lucario (a la Roy = Fire Marth in Melee) would be cool. Also, it would give us two of each starter type: water (Squirtle/Greninja), grass (Ivysaur/Decidueye), fire (Charizard/Blaziken).

Black Knight - Ike echo. Fire Emblem villain... that's about it, can't say much else.

Medusa - Palutena echo. Viridi is more wanted, but Medusa can fit Palutena's dimensions and will also fit the villain role for Kid Icarus. Plus Sakurai loves this series so not having a new Kid Icarus character would be strange.

Black Shadow - Captain Falcon echo. New F-Zero rep (fans want), villain, enough said.

Ninten - Ness echo. Maybe he can make it in to round off the Mother protagonists.

Isabelle - Villager echo. Very loved character so she might be put in by Sakurai as well.

Octoling - Inkling echo. I shouldn't really have to explain.

Ribbon Girl - If Spring Man makes it as DLC, I think having Ribbon Girl as his echo would be nice since she is also a requested character. If not her, then another ARMs character (Twintelle is popular as well).

Urban Champion - Little Mac echo. I figured that if a new retro character comes in, why not a second one that's an echo? Sakurai DID want to put this guy in Melee and now is his chance to place him here now easily.

Shadow - Sonice echo. Need I say anything at all?

Akuma - Ryu echo. Ken is also another choice, but I think Akuma is not only more popular and iconic, but is also another villain that can be used.

Ms. Pac-Man - Pac-Man echo. For fun.

Squall - Cloud echo. I would say Zack, but I think Squall would be much better and would attract more people. He could also be Fire Cloud (see: Fire Marth)

Jeanne - Bayonetta echo. Makes sense and can be there to further promote Bayonetta.

 

[zeldasmash]

Here's my roster for SSBU.

 

[TriMaxTime]

Spoiler: Roster + DLC together

Here's my prediction/hopes as of today. Red is DLC.

Unannounced characters include Ninten, Impa, Shadow, Isabelle, Ken, Isaac, Skull Kid, Geno, Decidueye, Bandana Dee, Karate Joe, Mike Jones, and Banjo-Kazooie. DLC includes Octoling, Rex & Pyra, Spring Man, Ribbon Girl (echo), Heihachi, Shantae, and Crash.

I don't think this roster is 100% accurate to what will happen. This is more like if all of the prominent fan hopes/rumors come true in Ultimate's roster. I honestly think that the roster will be smaller than this, and likely not include Mike, Banjo, Octoling, Shantae, Crash, and possibly not Ninten or Impa. But I'm guessing we'll get a surprise character or two to take the places of those I don't think are as likely. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Takasmash]

The characters I think that is locked in Smash Ultimate.

 

[MagnesD3]

10 Newcomers:

Inkling
Ridley
Simon
King K. Rool
Isaac
Skull Kid
Gardevoir
Geno
Bandanna Dee
Banjo Kazooie

I think the base roster will only consist of popular character choices from the ballot, everything else is off the table on this one.


10 Echoes:

Daisy
Richter
Chrom
Dark Samus
Shadow
Black Shadow
Isabelle
Dixie
Impa
Gothitelle

I believe we will receive around this many number of echoes but it wouldnt surprise me if there were more. I think most echoes included will have a purpose for being included mainly being popularity from the ballot or in richter's case of stealing moves from simon or gothitelle representing gen 5.

10 DLC:

Rex and Pyra
Spring Man
Decidueye
Chorus Kids
Paper Mario
Rayman
Heihachi
Sora
Master Chief
Crash

Mostly characters from new/unrepresented franchises and a ton of popular/surprising/good relationship with nintendo 3rd party picks.

Bonus: I could see Waluigi getting in as DLC for his popularity and the surprise factor since he is an assist trophy currently but I think Paper Mario would get the boot if that were the case...

 

[Sailor Waddle Dee]

Here is my current prediction for the final base game roster.

Red = Newcomers
Green = Veteran Echo Fighters
Yellow = Newcomer Echo Fighters

my total for newcomers is

9 full newcomers
7 Echo fighters
for a total of 16 Newcomers.

My reasoning for my choices.

Dixie: The third most prominent Kong, playable in more classic DKC games than the big ape himself. she is a pretty heavily requested character. and Dark Samus and Chrom show that echoes aren't quite as copy and paste as they initially seemed. so she could theoretically work as an echo of Diddy with mostly the same moves, but an altered recovery and a few other minor differences.

Ninten: I don't really know the Mother franchise well enough to say if he would be a better fit as an echo of Ness or Lucas, but I made him a Lucas echo on my roster to help visual diversity since he looks too similar to Ness. including the protagonists of all 3 Mother titles seems like it would be a nice little set to have in the game.

Shadow: Richter has shown that 3rd parties can have echoes, and since Shadow's assist trophy is missing currently, he could pretty easily be made into an echo of Sonic with a few tweaks to make him feel more unique. plus, having Shadow be a fake copy of Sonic would be wonderfully fitting.

Bandana Dee: His popularity continues to grow and he was likely heavily requested during the direct. plus right now he has survived the assist trophy massacres unscathed, and didn't make a cameo in King Dedede's new final smash, despite being present in the source material this final smash was derived from. plus a little personal bias since he's one of my top 3 most wanted newcomers.

Chibi=Robo: He really needs this. he probably fared ok in the ballot. and he has a full series to represent. he definitely has moveset potential and I think he'd be a good quirky pick for the roster

Geno: He got a Mii Fighter costume in Smash4, Sakurai has said before that he wants to add Geno to the roster, and Geno has become quite highly requested among the smash community. and with Square enix already on board thanks to Cloud, I think he has a good shot.

Isaac: Another heavily requested character. he seems like a pretty good fit for smash, and his assist trophy is nowhere to be seen.

Banjo & Kazooie: the big final break the internet reveal for right before the game releases, to generate the most hype possible. the homecoming of Banjo and Kazooie, back to their Nintendo Roots, reunited with Diddy Kong. Sakurai himself wanted to add Banjo back during the days of Melee, but the buyout prevented that. Phil Spencer's tweets indicate that this shouldn't be as much of a problem now, especially with how chummy Microsoft and Nintendo have been lately. if Sakurai was going to talk to Microsoft about Smash, he'd prioritize Banjo over any other character. and with this game being based off of the roster and fulfilling fan's desires, Banjo is a very real possibility

I put no faith into leaks or the theory that we won't be getting any new stages. we're still 4 months out from release why would we have seen all the stages now? why would he kill off speculation for so many potential newcomers this far from release?

I am sure we will get DLC post release though.
and my current top picks for DLC candidates are
Captain Toad (if he doesn't get the Alfonzo treatment in the base game)
Springman
Ribbongirl (as a Springman echo)
Octoling (Inkling Echo)
Rex & Pyra
a new pokemon rep

 

[Bayopuff]

Here's my roster for SSBU.
View attachment 157379

This is offtopic from the thread, but how did you make that roster picture? It looks great.

 

[QrowinSP]

A common theory is that this roster will have, in regards to echo+non echo fighters, a multiple of 12 characters. If we have 84 total, plus a random slot, we then need to find a way to fit 85 slots into a setup. I made a mockup here of how that could be formatted. Just take into account that the bottom two lines should be slid to the right half a square so that they are centered.

 

[zeldasmash]

This is offtopic from the thread, but how did you make that roster picture? It looks great.

The roster itself I did with a standard table in Pages. The images used for the roster were taken from a Smash Bros Roster Download Pack, same thing goes for the background behind the character table. The image itself was taken with a Mac Screenshot and was later cropped.

 

[Gouloudrouioul]

Okay, after the direct, here's what I think the roster will be.

(sorry for bad english)

Here's my reasoning behind this roster :
- So I do believe the "not to expect too many newcomers" statement from Sakurai only applies to real new characters, and not echoes. Even the official website does not even consider echoes as a real characters, so...
- I also believe that the 6 missing spot in the map selection screen shown during the direct are reserved for newcomers' map.
- The ballot is a huge influence for this roster, and this is the most fanservice smash ever. So I took that into consideration.
- Smash is becoming more and more a celebration of videogames in general, and not only of Nintendo. Some iconic tier characters MUST appear.

I'll be evaluating in percent how much I think a character has a chance of making it.

Echoes : (8 in total)

- Daisy (confirmed)
- Dark Samus (confirmed)
- Richter (confirmed)
- Chrom (confirmed)
- Dixie (90%)
- Isabelle (90%)
- Shadow (90%)
- Ken (60%)


New characters : (12 in total)

- Inklings (confirmed)
- Ridley (confirmed)
- Simon (confirmed)
- King K Rool (confirmed)

- Paper Mario (80%) -> This is one of the biggest Nintendo series not having representation in smash yet. And the moveset has a lot of potential. Plus the ballot.

- Isaac (80%) -> One of the biggest name of the ballot. Not seen as an assist trophy. And highly requested. Plus, it would make SO MUCH SENSE :D. His stage would take one of the six spots.

- Decidueye, or a gen 7 pokemon (90%) -> Obligatory. His stage would be Pokefloat 2 (which would explain why it's not returning yet), with modern pokemon, taking the second of the six spots.

- Skull Kid (70%) -> The chairs and all that... Plus the ballot. Plus the attention given to all the Zelda cast.

- Chorus Kids (60%) -> I believe if we get a retro representative, it will be this one. Sakurai already spoke of adding them, and there is data of them in Smash 4. His stage will take the third of the six stage spots.

- Spring Man (80%) -> Yes they are using the ballot a lot for this roster... But if there's one new IP that would use the publicity of Smash, it would be this one. We can't forget that Smash is a big way to put forward new IPs. His stage take the fourth of the six stage spots.

- Steve (80%) -> If not in the base roster, in DLC. This is THE representative of indie games. There is no bigger name than Steve in this area. And it would appeal to so much people, not familiar with smash, but familiar with the minecraft universe. I really thing it would be so clever from Nintendo to do this. His stage takes the fifth of the six stage spot.

- Rayman (80%) -> If not in the base roster, in DLC too. One of the few iconic characters that has not made it in Smash. Everyone knows Rayman. Plus, Ubisoft has a long history working with Nintendo (Kingdom battle, and all that...). It would make a lot of sense. His stage takes the last of the six stage spot.


Honorable mentions

- Geno (20%) -> I'm sorry, but in spite of everyone wanting him and all that... I just don't see it happen. It's a tier character, not well known at all, and a lot of tier character would be so much more iconic than him.

- Banjo and Kazooie (35%) -> It could happen. But if Nintendo choose to associate with Microsoft, it would make much more sense that Steve would be the one to make it. It would be so profitable for both company.

- Bandana Dee (15%) -> Okay, so it's just personal preference now... But I really don't see what his moveset could be... Plus, this character seems so generic, that I really have a hard time imagining him in Smash. But, hey, it's just personal preference :D.

- Phoenix Wright (5%) -> I WANT HIM SO BAD :'( His moveset would be so awesome. And the musics, and his stage would fit so well in smash :'( But I know he has zero chance of making it whatsoever.

 

[DarkShadow20]

This was my roster before the recent direct, but I didn't have Richter on it and I had a couple of characters that were deconfirmed like Ashley and Captain Toad. I also had Chrom as an echo of Ike. I replaced Impa with Skull Kid , Decidueye with Incineroar, and Edelgard with Black Knight and added some 3rd party echoes and a couple of other new series.

Here is my new roster.

General notes- We got 5 characters revealed last direct. With 3 of them being echoes, and two being villains, 2 being from an iconic third party series, and Sakurai adding characters more based on fan demand instead of relevancy this time around, I've made this roster with all of those things in mind. A few may be more of a personal choice like Akuma instead of Ken, but I don't think there's anyone here who is too out of the realm of possibility. I also added some based on leaks, certain assist trophies still missing, and possible hints. This may seem like a large roster, but this is with DLC included.

With all that out of the way, here is my reasoning for each character.

Geno- Sakurai has wanted him in since Brawl, and he's one of the last popular characters from that time period now that Ridley and K Rool are in. He had a Mii costume last game, so we know Square is already willing to let Nintendo use him.

Dixie- Was planned for Brawl and would be an easy echo to implement. She's still relevant and popular.

Skull Kid- Popular pick, had a mii costume, there's a leak with him, his AT is still missing with him possibly being replaced by the moon, and would fit the rivals theme that this game is seemingly going for.

Medusa- Would be an easy echo of Palutena, she's the next most recurring character in the series, and would be both a villain and a female.

Black Knight- I think most people thought Chrom would be an echo of Ike, but when it was revealed that he was an echo of Roy instead, this opens up a space for an Ike echo. And there's nobody better than the Black Knight. He would be a very good rival for Ike. He also had a mii costume last game, and we've seen a few characters be promoted from that already.

Bandanna Dee- He's got a lot of fan demand and is the next in line for a new Kirby rep. Sakurai seems to be adding more reps for some of the series without that many, especially ones that were in the original game, so the Kirby series should be no exception.

Masked Man- If Mother gets a new rep, there's a couple of options they could go with, but Masked Man seems like the easiest besides Ninten to implement. Would be a good rival for Lucas.

Black Shadow- Very popular in Japan because of the voice actor, could borrow from both Falcon's and Ganondorf's moves since Ganondorf is becoming more and more unique, and would be a great rival for Falcon. Since Goroh is already deconfirmed as an assist trophy again, Black Shadow has no competition.

Incineroar- It's hard to guess the next Pokemon rep with so many to choose from, but some of the more popular ones like Mimikyu are already confirmed to be Pokeball Pokemon. There's recent leaks with him in it, and he would make a better rival character than Decidueye.

Isabelle- She's got a lot of fan demand and her assist trophy hasn't been seen yet, and there is a new AT from Animal Crossing. Would be an easy echo.

Elma- Her game was the most recent during the time work started on Ultimate, and Sakurai tweeted a picture of a mech toy with a gun he bought for research, which could have been pointing to her inclusion.

Excitebiker- The excitebike assist trophy hasn't been seen yet, and we know Sakurai had thought about adding him back in Melee. He's from one of the longest running series with several games that isn't already included in Smash, and would be a good retro pick.

Isaac- He's been a pretty popular choice since Brawl, and his assist trophy hasn't been seen. Sakurai also tweeted a pic that looked very similar to a battle from Golden Sun. Could be a hint like his red eye comment hinting at the Bloody Tears song from Castlevania and K Rool's red eye.

Karate Joe- There's leftover data from the last game that pointed to a Rhythm Heaven character being planned, and he seems like the most popular and well known from the series. Joe also had the exact same pose as DK had watching TV in the trailer for K Rool, so this could have been a hint.

Spring Man- This could end up being a DLC character, or depending on how early ARMS started development and if Sakurai was aware of the character, could make it to the base game. Either way, I think he will eventually be on the roster as he seems to be in a similar position that Inklings were last game.

Akuma- This could easily be Ken instead, but Akuma would fit the rivals theme better since he's a villain, plus he has been in other crossover games before like Tekken 7, which Namco made.

Shadow- He's a very popular character and his assist trophy hasn't been seen yet, but there is a new Knuckles one. Again, he would fit the rivals theme very well and would be an easy echo.

Heihachi- Since other 3rd party companies have 2 or even 3 characters, it would make sense for Namco to have at least one more since they are helping make the game. Sakurai also thought about adding him last game, and he was a mii costume. Would fit the rivals theme.

Rayman- He already had a trophy last game, and Ubisoft has been even closer to Nintendo on the Switch having made the Mario and Rabbids game. He would be an iconic 3rd party pick.

Crash- Probably more likely as DLC since the trilogy collection just recently released on the Switch. Would complete the Nintendo vs. Sega vs. Sony war of the 90's and is very iconic.

Banjo- Microsoft's president has already said he would be fine with them adding Banjo, and he's a very popular and iconic character whose best games were on Nintendo consoles. Would be one of the last truly hype characters that could be added after Ridley and K Rool.

 

[jwillenn]

So on July 30, I responded to a "pick 10" post here
https://smashboards.com/threads/smash-ultimate-discussion.434391/post-22240075

Now...

 

[mynameisBlade]

Roster after 8/8/2018 Direct. Most wanted made it! Welcome back King K. Rool!!!

Top Yellow Boxes: 3 other Newcomers - Bandanna Dee, Isaac, and Skull Kid.

Red Boxes: Echoes - They are under the same column as the character they would Echo.

Bottom Yellow Boxes: 3rd Parties - From left to right and separated by company. I have Nightmare on here, because I am sick of seeing Heihachi everywhere (as much as I like him). I hope if Sakurai adds another Bandai Namco character he doesn't do something that was already done in PSAS.... Lets do a Soul Calibur character or maybe Ms. Pacman as an Echo...

P.S. I have Waluigi as an Echo under Wario's column. I think it would be an interesting idea for Waluigi. Everyone expects him to just pull out Mario Sports equipment, but I'd much rather him fight slightly like Wario. Instead of the motorcycle special, maybe a Mario *Kart*. Just something neat that I would enjoy.

 

[2000dog]

So after seeing 5 new characters, I feel like we can't possibly have too many new fighters now (even if Sakurai said that last time). Even the roster I'm posting now feels a little optimistic, but I think the best case scenario is 4 final fighters with original moves and 4 final echo fighters:

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

took me a little bit but finally got my post smash direct predictions

Yellow = Echos
Green = unique
Purple = Other possibilities that can be added as well/safety net encase of being wrong/future dlc
Red = pure dlc guess's

first off
https://smashboards.com/threads/news-how-fans-brought-back-k-rool.457451/
this article (if legit but 97% sure it is) basically confirmed the costume theory and that the ballot is whats being used for newcomer and echo choices

Isabelle - shes pretty much the brand new main star character of animal crossing, she can easily get villagers attacks just alter them so they are more like what Isabelle would do, but of coarse she survived the assist trophy onslaught twice so far (for the argument about the you refuse to accept her with a hatchet for Down special for the the tree tell that to dark samus since she never used a screw attack and morph bombs in her titles)

Shadow - almost practically confirmed at this point, ritcher belmont proved more than one from a series can get in from 3rd parties and hybrid moves for echos is possible, uses almost all of sonic''s attacks difference is the gun but for hybrid echos is the true key here thanks to chrom echos can have more than one characters attacks for this case sonic and mewtwo and survived the assist trophy onslaught twice

Dixie Kong - We are most likely getting her from the ballot and echo hybrids is a thing make her Up B her hair but works like DK up B not sure what hybrid can be used for the peanut gun just yet but just replace it with gum I guess

skull kid - missing in action the moon assist possibility taking his place and Nintendo has Ben showing a lot of skull kid in posts lately and not to mention the ballot and costume theory theres also a heroes vs villians theme going on so that fits for young link and villians are being added to this one more than heroes so far
(before you use final smash as argument majoras wrath is probably the final smash used similar to the retired transformation final smashes giga bowser for example)

Gardevoir and Gothiette - theirs two parts to this one is the supportive leak the other is fan request wise

Supportive leak
https://boards.fireden.net/v/thread/422689663/

first is the ritcher belmont part since thats the most argued partand thats they would pick simon over him and not in there

well the argument is not valid because its a demo and not everybody is in the demo they do this to avoid spoiling the whole roster and japan does favor ritcher over simon

and sakurai actually almost confessed they choice ritcher first in a way
https://youtu.be/P-kQWJrjRV4?t=365

6:25

"Besides the super smash bros ultimate version of Simon can preform moves derived from Ritcher in his original games so its hard to tell who's echoing who."

so we can't really say in conclusion simon would be put in first by default

but the other big part is that this leak also has K rool and Dark samus as playable both a which can easily ben disconfirmed

the mario2 logically its either paper mario or geno but in smash 4 mario was place holder for data digs that happened

but the last thing obcure leaks like this and with characeters we would never add to roster usually end up true also that all the characters could easily be disconfirmed at anytime

oh heres papa genos videos on the subject he explains it better than me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTaCxYrXcY part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIBllJktqag part 2

now im not saying the leak is true im just saying its worth considering/looking into

now for gardevoir

Even without the leak we are really under considering gardevori for the reasons

• Is a Popular pokemon even to this day
• In the ballot in pokemon im willing to bet almost all will involve the words "to present for gen 3" gardevoir is a gen 3 pokemon
• Missing in action twice just like skull kid, isabelle and shadow
• in pokken so can probably base a moveset ideas from that (and pika libre is known mostly there and born in the remake of ruby and sapphire)
• this is for both of them remember the term "everyone is here" so we could get a pokemon of each gen thats missing so we all the gens here

gothiette is a a little tricker but basicly to echo gardevoir

• just like gen 3 its so we get a gen 5 pokemon in the game and ballots also probably had "to present for gen 5"
• In a episode of pokemon they are together because they are owned by two sisters who raised N so could get in to reference that.
• can we really figure out any other combination to get a unique of one gen and a echo of the unique gen?

overall gardevori is a under considered.

Gen 7 rep - i think its a safe bet we will get a gen 7 rep (just not mimikyu) but im willing to wager the trailer will involve the theme "all generations are here" esc like trailer so we have a pokemon of each gen (oh gen 8 for dlc by the way)

isaac - overall the ballot is probably really going to help and just like k rool they probably had no idea isaac is that popular and plus the fans are focused for this smash brothers since in both directs its like a ton of stuff we wanted. (not completly betting on it though)

( bonus prediction: think barbara the bat may return as a assist trophy to present for DK old final smash just like the Chef for kirbys)

Geno - I just can't see him not making it at this point sakurai wanted him from the brawl days and the reasonings for K rool getting in futher supports since he fits for the costume theory and heavily requested they may even show square the fans want geno from the ballot and is highly wanted in japan cloud already playable and we can get more than one third party per company and square enix is more co-operative with nintendo

banjo and kazooie - well im not competely locking them but it just fits since they can be as requested as ridley, king k rool, geno skull kid, simon and so on and so forth but the microsoft dude already gave the thumbs up if they want banjo as playable since highly voted in the ballot so they don't even need to argue I saw 50/50 for base but probably 97% for DLC if it happens


i will go by quicker for the others

Ken & akuma - to echo ryu and is extremely easily (as a matter of fact they have ben echos before smash even existed)
EDIT: Vergeben may have leak ken with the comment “trash it, it’s missing ken.” So possibly may have said ken is a echo of rye
Here’s the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/98hyay/vergeben_seemingly_claims_ken_is_in_the_game/

karate joe/Rhythm Heaven rep - highly requested by the fans and chorus kids was in data mine and is the only one from gemusatu not playable in smash ultimate but why karate joe?

look at this

Black Knight - the Echo Ike and the Heroes vs villians theme is looking good and ofcoarse he has a mii costume so the theory comes in again

viridi and medusa - both seem legit to echo palutena but medusa is more likely due to reset bomb forest (god/godess can be more than one place at once) but medusa for the heores vs villians theme palutena for light medusa for darkness

bandana dee- simply because hes japans second most wanted and we want him too and the last main kirby character

lloyd - another one for the Costume theory and ballot and for a second namco rep

heihachi - sakurai considered him for smash 4 didn't happen due to pac-man and hard to implament his moveset

monster hunter - just being presented is ultimate is all so just in case a playable gets in as well and konami proved we can get 3 reps from a company


DLC

Crash - he recently resurrected to nintendo but too late for base unless sakurai knew about the triliogy while the roster was being decided and another dream battle is mario vs sonic vs crash bandicoot since they were all rivals back in the days

spring man - again came out too late and is one of the core starter games for the switch so maybe dlc

tails - the costume theory and ritcher and simon proved we can get more from a 3rd party series

paper mario - just high fan request

sylux - another too late for base character but to present for metroid prime 4 since hes rumored to be the main villian of that one and heroes vs villians and despite getting 2 more metroid reps i say one more will do it.



so thats my thoughts.

 

[Jonny_Cookie]

Hi all, just thought I’d post how I would want the roster to be within reason of course, and explain why I think they have a chance unless it’s a obvious pick
Newcomers:
Incinaroar
Heihachi
Geno
Issac
Banjo and Kazooie

Echoes:
Isabelle (of Villager)
Ninten (of Ness)
Plusle/Minun (of Pichu, will be one character but a costume alt for both, also to rep gen 3 and it’s remakes)
Impa (Of Sheik)
Shadow (of Sonic)
Ken. (Of Ryu)
DLC:
Crash bandicoot ( the N.sane trilogy will have been out on the switch for a while then and he is highly requested)
Rex and Pyra ( don’t think there was enough time to put in base roster)
Mipha ( unique move set and I’m sure a breath of the wild character will get in)
Joker ( from Persona 5, I know it’s sony but we have Cloud and persona Q2 is coming to 3ds along with shin megami on the switch plus he is owned by Sega which has characters already)
Edelgard ( from Three houses to rep the new game one of the main characters uses an axe which we don’t have for fire emblem)
Coco bandicoot ( as an echo of Crash makes perfect sense)


Tried to mix some new characters with some old ones, also since 8 characters is the most on screen at a time the series’s that have almost 8 should have 8 which is why I think we needed at least 1 new Pokémon, 1 new Fire emblem characters and 2 Zelda characters

 

[Fane]

Alright. Here's my predictions:

Newcomers:
-Skull Kid
-Geno
-Isaac
-Gen 7 Pokemon
-Rhythm Heaven Rep

Echoes:
-Isabelle (Villager)
-Impa (Sheik)
-Shadow (Sonic)
-Dixie Kong (Diddy Kong)

DLC is something that could change in the future, but I'll give it a go:

-Fire Emblem: Three Houses Character
-Gen 8 Pokemon
-ARMs Character
-Rex/Pyra
-LoZ BotW Champion (Revali/Urbosa/Daruk/Mipha)
-Kirby Star Allies Character (Bandana Dee or Marx most likely)
-Third Party Character #1
-Third Party Character #2

 

[Royaru]

Not a bad idea, and theorize is always fun, so here is my list

Unique fighters in base roster :
Elma (Xenoblade X)
Isaac (GS)
Skull Kid (Zelda)
RH rep
Lip (Panel de Pon)

Echo in base roster
Isabelle (AC)
Ken (SF)
Dixie Kong (DK)
Impa (Zelda)
Shadow (Sonic)
Black Knight (FE)

Unique fighter (DLC)
Eighth generation Pokemon
Spring Man (ARMS)
Rex&Pyra (Xenoblade)
Eldelgard (FE)
Rayman
Banjo
Someone from Namco Bandai or SE
Kirby rep? Maybe Bandana Dee or Magolor

 

[LoZ00]

Ok, here’s mine
Newcomers:
-Incineroar
-Skull Kid
-Geno
-Balloon Fighter (one of the few mandatory retro characters to have a home stage)
-Isaac (without a home stage, will come as DLC)/Banjo-Kazooie (again, without a home stage, will come as DLC)

Echoes:
-Dixie Kong (Diddy Kong)
-Shadow/Tails (Sonic)
-Isabelle (Villager)
-Impa (Sheik)/Ken (Ryu)/Octoling (Inkling, IMHO the most likely, with Splatoon 2 aestethics)

DLCs:
-Gen 8 Pokémon (in order to promote the upcoming Switch game)
-Edelgard/New FE Lord (in order to promote Three Houses, maybe with a home stage)
-Spring Man (with a home stage)
-Ribbon Girl (Spring Man’s Echo, has a third jump)
-Rex (with a home stage, I don’t know how Pyra will be implemented)
-Banjo-Kazooie (if not in the bass game)
-Other 2 newcomers

That would be a lot of stuff. Well, I hope I’m right: I would DIE for a roster like that.

 

[Cetus]

New Bois
-Isabelle (Echo)
-Incineroar
-Geno
-Isaac
-Octoling (Echo)
-Shadow (Echo)

DLC
-Rex & Pyra
-Gen 8 Pokemon
(Some more idk)

 

[CardStealer1]

Newcomers:
- Isaac
- Skull Kid
- Inceneroar
- Rhythm Heaven (Chorus Kids)
- Geno/Banjo (only one of them)

Echoes:
- Isabelle
- Black Knight
- Dixie Kong
- Ken
- Shadow
- Impa

DLC:
-Geno/Banjo (whichever one wasn’t in the base roster and he will be the last one revealed.
- Rayman
- Heihachi
- Springman/Ribbon Girl/ MinMin (costumes)
- Rex&Pyra
- Fire Emblem 3 Houses character
- Monster Hunter
- If Banjo is in the base roster I could actually see Memester Chief as an actual contender for DLC.

 

[Tetiro]

Alright I'll play the game!

Newcomers (Limiting to the Estimated Remaining)

• Isaac
• Geno / Banjo-Kazooie
• Bandana Dee
• Gen 7 Rep

Echoes (Limiting to the Estimated Remaining)

• Isabelle
• Shadow
• Ken
• Dixie Kong

DLC Newcomers (Limiting to Five as to Wii U's newcomer DLC count)

• Banjo-Kazooie / Geno
• Rex & Pyra / Elma
• Springman
• Monster Hunter
• Professor Layton (at this point I ran out of thoughts)

DLC Echoes (Limiting to Two as to the Wii U's echo DLC count)

• Impa
• Octolings

If all this came to fruition we might actually have the best game of all time. It would be the perfect roster.

 

[Artix]

Here's mine:

Newcomers:
- Geno (Pretty much a given, since King K. Rool got in)
- Isaac
- Decidueye/Incineroar (whichever of these Pokemon made it in, I wouldn't mind)
- Skull Kid
- Rhythm Heaven rep.

Echo Fighters:
- Shadow (Sonic)
- Ken/Akuma (Ryu)
- Impa (Sheik)
- Isabelle (Villager)
- Black Knight (Ike)

DLC:
- Saber (Fate/stay night)
- Rex and Pyra
- Spring Man
- Jin Kazama
- Banjo & Kazooie

 

[NocturnalQuill]

I've got a much more conservative outlook on what we're going to get. Only 2 newcomers from the fall direct, with 2-3 echo fighters.

Newcomers:
- Skull Kid
- Incineroar

Echo Fighters:
- Shadow
- Ken
- Isabelle

 

[Blue7113]

I don’t really have a conservative view on things. A few more fighters could mean more then a 8 compared then the large amount of newcomers we have been getting. So I think we’ll be getting more than 4 more

Isaac
Geno
Bandana Dee
Rythm Heaven rep
Inceneroar (?)
Skull Kid (?)
Banjo and Kazooie (if not base than DLC)

Dixie Kong
Isabelle
Shadow
Ken
Impa

Spring Man
Rex and Pyra
Crash Bandicoot
Edelgard
Banjo and Kazooie (if not DLC than base roster)

 

[SquashiniKun]

Here are mine...

Unique: 6 more
Elma
Nihilego
Chorus Kids
Ayumi Tachibana
Heihachi
Geno

Echoes: 4 More
Isabelle
Ninten
Ken
Shadow

 

[TimonBoyd]

Here is my list For Super Smash Bros.Ultimate Character prediction

Newcomers:

Geno
Isaac
Skull Kid

Echo:

Shadow The Hedgehog
Issabelle
Ken Masters (Echo of Ryu)

DLC (Fighters)

Dixie Kong (Echo of Diddy Kong)
Rex & Pyra
Impa (Echo of Sheik)
Heihachi Mishima (Jin or Kazuya Mishima for Echo Fighters)
Monster Hunter
Elma
Banjoe & Kazooie
Crash Bandicoot

 

[SupriceSupplies]

While my prediction has a lot of leeway in it, I'm pretty confident in predicting the following:

4 or 5 unique newcomers, 4 or 5 echo fighters.

Unique:
-Bandana Dee
-Isaac
-1 or 2 of the following: Skull Kid, Paper Mario, A rhythm Heaven Character, a Pokémon character. (leaning towards Skull Kid and a Rhythm Heaven char)
-1 Third party of the following: Rayman, Geno, Banjo and Kazooie, Lloyd Irving, Heihachi, Shantae. (Leaning towards Rayman. What do you mean I'm biased?)

Echo:
4 of the following, if not all 5
-Shadow (Sonic) (Note: Teleportation recovery a la Mewtwo)
-Isabelle (Villager)
-Ken (Ryu)
-Dixie (Diddy) (Note: DK's recovery and a high Double Jump utilizing her hair)
-Impa (Sheik)

DLC (hard to predict since we don't even know if we'll get it, but I'll try):
Any number of the following:
-Any of the third parties that didn't get into the base roster in my third party unique section
-Rex and Pyra
-Springman or any ARMS character
-If not in the base roster, a gen 7 pokémon, if a very late DLC addition, a gen 8 starter.
-Wonder Red (please god I just NEED)
-A second Kirby Character (Magolor/Marx/A MK echo)
-Captain Toad (Stage decoration be damned)

 

[dezeray112]

Here is mine:

Unique Newcomers:
- Skull Kid
- Elma
- Isaac
- Gen 7 Pokemon

Echoes:
- Shadow
- Ken Masters
- Isabelle
- Viridi or Medusa

DLC:
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses Rep
- Rex & Pyra
- Malos
- ARMS rep
- Any Third Party Representation

 

[spoilerowl]

I'm going to be objective with a more grounded prediction, placing my current most-wanted character in DLC.

Unique Newcomers:
- Skull Kid
- Isaac
- Gen 7 Pokemon (probably Incineroar or Tapu Koko)
- Geno

Echo Fighters:
- Isabelle
- Dixie Kong
- Shadow
- Ken

DLC Newcomers:
- Waluigi
- Second AT promotion (Ashley/Bomberman/etc.)
- Spring Man (or other ARMS character)
- Rex & Pyra
- Bandana Dee
- Shantae
- Banjo & Kazooie

DLC Echoes:
- Black Shadow
- Funky Kong
- Impa
- Ninten

 

[MrGame&Rock]

Okay, here's my Ultimate Roster. This is part based on prediction on what I think will happen, and part wishful thinking.

(Red background indicates unconfirmed character. Yellow background indicates Echo Fighter.)

This is operating under the assumption that the Amazon leak/screenshot saying there would be 71 fighters is accurate. It also assumes that the 71 number goes by the Sakurai Counter, in which echo fighters don't count but each of the Pokemon Trainer's pokemon count once and each of the Mii types count once. Bandana Dee is fighter #71.

So I have, in addition to what we already know, new fighters Geno, Isaac, Decidueye, and Bandana Dee. i was very close to adding Skull Kid but decided against it, mainly because his presumed final smash, the Moon, is an assist trophy, and because he wasn't a popular ballot pick from what I can tell. Now for the Echo fighters. The layout of this CSS is that each row has 15 characters, and so my roster has 15 Echo fighters. That way, if you choose to group them with the character they're based on, the CSS looks the same except one row shorter. Btw, heres what that would look like:

In addition to the echoes we have, getting to 15 would require another 9 echo fighters. That's not THAT big a stretch since they don't take up that much in terms of resources. So we have Dry Bowser, Impa, Dixie Kong, Shadow, Viridi, Octoling, Felix, and most controversially, Blaziken. Blaziken as a Falcon Echo is really wishful thinking on the part of a huge Blaziken fan, but it's a smooth transition, with many of Falcon's moves (plus his model) working nicely for Blaziken. Plus, this would give us one non-Kanto fully evolved starter from each type along with Decidueye and Greninja.

 

[evildevil97]

Here's my current roster. I brought in only three more full-fledged newcomers: Captain Toad, Porky Minch, and Paper Mario. Porky is the biggest wildcard here. I don't know enough about Pokemon to add any, but the Pokemon lineup is so huge as it is, I wouldn't be too surprised if there weren't any newbies at launch.

As for echo fighters, I just brought in the obvious ones: Dixie Kong (from Diddy), Shadow (from Sonic), Isabelle (from Villager), and Ken (from Ryu). I'm trying for at least some realism.

 

[PeridotGX]

So here's my new prediction roster. I kept the unique selection low, but went all out on Echoes.

Bandana Dee is my most expected newcomer at the moment. He's popular globally, but especially in Japan, basically being an opposite Ridley. Moveset uses Spear and Parasol, FS is Megaton Punch. Revealed in a general direct in September

Lycanroc is my predicted Pokemon at this point. His moveset uses rocks and the FS is his Z-Move. Dusk is the default with a Midday alt, and revealed in an October brodcast simmilar to Robin in 4.

Issac and Geno are added for the same reason: Popularity. I've never played their games, so I don't know what they'd do. Both revealed in a November Smash direct.

Rayman is added both due to popularity and Ubisoft being so nice with Nintendo. Revealed in aformentioned November direct.

Skull Kid is the last newcomer revealed, a mere 3 days before the game releases. I have yet to play MM, so IDK what he does.

Now on to the Echoes, starting with my most insane idea.

Blaziken: Actually plausible in my eyes, though the least safe newcomer on the roster. He's a very popular Pokemon, which was only enhanced by the Ballot coinciding with ORAS. While not enough to be unique, it could be enough to be an echo, of which he fits over Falcon perfectly. Revealed with Lycanroc.

Impa: Again a decently popular Zelda character. Default design is SS, with HW being an alt. Revealed with Skull Kid.

Dixie: Too popular to be absent. Has DK's UP B, reskinned to be with her hair. Revealed in the September direct away from Dee

Shadow: Sonic echo with Mewtwo's Up B and Bayonetta's Down B. Revealed in November

Isabelle: The new fase of Animal Crossig, ideally unique but works well enough as an echo. Revealed in September with Dixie.

Ken: Training Wheels Ryu with no imputs. Revealed in November with Shadow.

Octoling: Pretty easy guess, uses Splatoon 2 design and weapons. Not origially planned, it was a personal request by the Splatoon 2 development team to coincide with the "Year of the Octoling".

10 uniques, 11 echoes. Maybe too many echoes but whatever.

 

[RC-3197]

Last Updated: September 14th 2018
I've made a massive change to my prediction:

So unique Isabelle actually came as a shock to me, I predicted she was in the game but I thought she would be an echo fighter.
Interestingly enough someone on discord did tell me and a lot of other people that Isabelle would be unique about 3 days before it happened, a lot of people don't take him seriously and I actually laughed to myself thinking "Unique Isabelle is going to be the next character? Yeah right." But it looks like I was wrong. He has a source that tells him stuff. His source even told him that Isabelle would be the next reveal before the direct aired.
You can watch a video of his here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdYhLFiJIsY

Anyways back to my prediction, unique Isabelle definitely changes things to the point where it would make sense. I had to take a step back and look at the predictions I had and see what the most logical choices were. What really stood out to me is how much sense it makes now, I have a timeline that actually works. Before the direct was announced I didn't think anything would be revealed in the direct until I heard it was about 3ds titles and switch titles not just the online features of the switch. Loz18 was proven a fraud, and Vergeben just got more credible.

So anyways here is what I had to work with this morning:

- 2 months (October and November) and 6 days in December where Nintendo could realistically announce things

Vergeben:
https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/...l_list_of_vergebes_claims_what_was_wrong_and/
- Gen 7 Pokemon Rep (Not decidueye or lyanrock)
- Ken (echo most likely "It's common sense" according to verge)
- New Square Enix rep "the one you know" (Vergeben is currently trying to confirm the name of the rep as of today)
- At least 6 additional unique fighters after E3 (So 3 remaining, new square rep, and gen 7 Pokemon leaves us with 1)
- Minecraft representation of some sort (most likely an item)

- Loz18 closed his account (how rude)

Okay so this is where I had to make some executive decisions.

Looking at the time we have left there are only a few times to officially reveal a fighter:
- a smash direct
- a surprise announcement (like Lucina and Robin on July 14th of 2014)

I believe the next smash direct will be in November, there has never been 2 Nintendo directs that have not been at least 1 month apart. We just had a nintendo direct this September so a October smash direct is out of the question.

I do believe that we are running out of time though so I think we will get a surprise newcomer in October just like Lucina / Robin were announced in smash 4. It could even announce the already mentioned November Smash Direct too.

From my experience you can expect the following in the next smash direct:
Newcomer
Echo
Echo
Game stuff (green mode, amiibo, trophies, items, etc)
Newcomer

So in total
October:
Newcomer

November:
Newcomer
Echo
Echo
Newcomer

I've just decided to fill in the blanks

Newcomer 1: The gen 7 Pokemon Vergeben is talking about has to be Incineroar. He fits the bill of being a wrestler and I think he would fit in quite well with the rest of the smash bros cast. His name also isn't Lycanroc, Decidueye, or Mimikyu who Vergeben deconfirmed, so that's a plus too. The only other viable contender is Tapu Koko but I think Incineroar fits better in smash bros.

Newcomer 2: The new square rep Vergeben is talking about has to be Geno, there is no denying it, Sakurai has wanted him since brawl and got a costume of him in 4. I think Sakurai finally got Geno into smash bros this time. He is also a highly requested fighter and has been for years, I'm sure he did great on the ballot. I think Geno's inclusion just makes sense.

Echo 1: Ken is a really obvious echo fighter, he was also leaked by Vergeben and he makes sense. The only time left to reveal him is in a Smash direct along with 1 more echo fighter.

So that leaves us with 1 more newcomer and 1 more echo fighter.
But who are they?
The contenders for the last base game newcomer slot are:
- Isaac
- Bandana Dee
- Banjo and Kazooie

Now this had me stumped for a while today until I realized something during a conversation. Leaks get more accurate as they get closer to release. Vergeben announced stuff in different levels of vagueness:

Gen 7 Pokemon (Vague)
Isabelle (Very specific)
Ken (Very specific but he is an echo fighter)
New Square Enix Rep (More vague than the Pokemon)

Notice how Isabelle was announced first? Leakers know more about stuff the closer it is to release. So going off of this handy list I made and the patterns of fighter reveals we can see that:

Incineroar is the surprise character in October.

So the November smash direct would start out with Geno then announce Ken.
So I had to ask myself who out of Isaac, Bandana Dee, and Banjo would produce more hype than Geno at the end of the smash direct?
I think that the answer to that question is Banjo, he would produce massive levels of hype that could easily outshine Geno.

Now the 2nd echo fighter. I only see 2 possible characters that could take that slot:
Shadow the Hedgehog
Dixie Kong

So it's a 1 on 1 between those two. Out of the two Shadow would make a better echo fighter than Dixie Kong so I had to go with Shadow on this one. It would do Dixie Kong more justice to be a full on unique newcomer. I also think Shadow is more popular than Dixie Kong outside the smash community especially among the younger age group. Shadow is also heavily speculated in Japan. The absence of his assist trophy is very odd. Shadow is also the 2nd most popular character in the sonic franchise, at one point Shadow was more popular than Sonic himself, so simply replacing him with the less popular Knuckles doesn't make sense at all.

So that pretty much explains everything.

Here is the timeline in order of reveal:

October Surprise:
Incineroar

November Smash Direct:
1 Geno
2 Ken (Echo)
3 Shadow (Echo)
4 Banjo and Kazooie

Changes:
Removed Bandana Dee:
He got bumped off simply due to roster size, if there were 2 more months before the release of ultimate he would make it into the base roster. At this point he could be in the base roster but only if Banjo or Isaac don't make the cut. If he is not in the base roster he will be one of the first DLC fighters. As mentioned earlier the last character needs to overshadow the level of hype made by Geno and out of the 3 Banjo could overshadow Geno's hype.

Removed Isaac:
He got bumped off simply due to roster size, if there were 2 more months before the release of ultimate he would make it into the base roster. At this point he could be in the base roster but only if Banjo or Bandana Dee don't make the cut. If he is not in the base roster he will be one of the first DLC fighters. As mentioned earlier the last character needs to overshadow the level of hype made by Geno and out of the 3 Banjo could overshadow Geno's hype.

Removed Paper Mario:
Let's face it, I only put him on the list because I wanted him to be in the game. Before Isabelle the unique fighter count was pushing it but now, there's no way he'll be in the base roster if Isaac and Bandana Dee aren't. I still think Paper Mario would make a great fighter and I hope to see him as DLC.

Removed Skull Kid:
Loz18 was a fraud. He started out with info about E3 and no longer had a source afterwards. He used the credibility he gained from the leaks he got correct to drum up support for Skull Kid, who is now a very popular character possibility. Now I think Loz18's goal was to drum up support for skull kid so that he would gain enough popularity to become a DLC fighter. That's a pretty smart plan if you ask me. But only if skull kid isn't a boss character.

Removed Dixie Kong (Echo):
As mentioned earlier she would have to fight Shadow for a slot as an echo fighter. I don't think she will because Shadow is just too popular 1 on 1, and she would make a better unique fighter. Dixie Kong fans, do not worry, she will probably be a DLC fighter, and if you are lucky she'll even be a unique fighter! It could even be announced alongside a new Donkey Kong game.

Moved Geno forward:
As mentioned before Geno is somewhat on the leak radar, however the last remaining newcomer is not described at all by any leak it just simply exists. This leads me to believe Geno will be revealed at the beginning of the November Smash Direct and the character occupying the last newcomer slot will be revealed at the end of the direct.

Isabelle Confirmed as not an echo:
This obviously put things into perspective. It proved Loz18 was a fraud, took out skull kid. All in all this change put my roster prediction into perspective. It brought my prediction to a point where it could actually happen. The only bad thing for me is it made my original prediction somewhat wrong. I predicted she would be an echo, but instead she was unique but it's a small price to pay for having an accurate prediction.

Spoiler: 4th version: August 23rd 2018 Prediction

Here's Mine:

I will update it as we get more information. The yellow boarder means my prediction and in the future when I get something wrong I will change the boarder to red and move them to the side of the roster (approximately 2 spaces to the right). You can read all about the changes I make with each version here. I will keep all the old versions of my roster below.

Spoiler: 3rd Roster Version

Spoiler: 2nd Roster Version

The difference between this and the first is the black knight was removed. This difference was so minimal and this version was so short lived I never uploaded it.

Spoiler: 1st Roster Version

 

[IceKitsune]

I honestly think this list is pretty realistic though I'm pretty shaky on Skull Kid and Impa, I also think that there is going to be an unexpected Old School First Party Nintendo Rep. There has been one in every game since Melee and I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on that. I just honestly have no clue who it could be at this point.

Newcomers
Geno
Chorus Kids or Karate Joe
Gen 7 Pokemon Rep
Old School First Party Nintendo Rep?
Skull Kid

Echoes
Shadow
Ken
Isabelle
Dixie Kong
Impa

DLC
Banjo Kazooie
Isaac
Spring Man
Ribbon Girl (Echo)
Octoling (Echo)
Bandana Dee