I was literally just saying to someone this, but it's funny how smash 4 is the inverse of Brawl in this respect. When it comes to the original 12 in Brawl:
-

was blatantly low mid tier
-

was blatantly low mid tier
-

was blatantly low tier
-

was blatantly low tier
-

was blatantly low tier
-

was blatantly bottom tier
-

was blatantly bottom tier
-

was blatantly low mid tier
-

and

were blatantly mid tier
- Leaving just

as semi-viable and

as good.
NOW take a look at smash 4's original 12.
-

is blatantly top tier
-

is blatantly top tier
-

is blatantly top tier
-

is blatantly top tier
-

is blatantly top tier
-

is blatantly top tier
-

is blatantly top tier
-

and

are at least mid tier (which is viable in this game)
-

and

are also viable mids
- Leaving only

as low tier, and ESAM pulled out

in CEO top 8 to take a game off Larry's Luigi.
It's so obvious they've put that much more care into the original 12, I think it's great. Most of them were designed to be very clearly good, and it shows. I CAN SEE THE LABOUR OF LOVE NINTENDO!