1- Pichu's removal would be the best for SSB Franchise
2- What!? Fire Emblem having more space than Metroid or Zelda? No way...
(Roy < Hector ; IMO)
3- Cell shaded would be
4- 'cause they need more space for retros, and Ice climbers are occupying one spot
5- Mr. Game & Watch has no direct relation with Wario to say that!
Actually I expect the LOZ to have at least 5 spots, but I think LOZ will have 6. As for Metroid, I expect 3 or 4 spots at least. Mario wil easily have 8 spots, who knows, he could go as high as 12, though I think Mario series will only have up to 10 at most, if even that. I expect the Fire Emblem series to have a lot of charcters, soley because they have a ton of characters, with tons of diversity.
Fire Emblem also probablly has more main characters than any other Nintendo series, which gives many Fire Emblem characters a advantage. Roy might be in just because he is easily one of the Melee's most liked & appreciated character, givin him a heavily needed edge.
Cell shaded Link will most likely be in Brawl (o ya!), but I still like Majora's Mask Link equally as much. I think there is a chance of a new Mother character, especially from Mother 3. In fact, from every series that has characters from that series, other than G&W & Ice Climbers, expect multiple characters from each of those series, & maybe Mother.
Also Wolf Link with Midna is almost eminently in Brawl, & expect another major LOZ villian, like Ganon (even though Ganondorf already in Brawl), Vatti, Zant, or Aghamin. Plus, the DK series will most likely have Diddy, Dixie, and maybe King K Rool in Brawl. Plus expect Ridley, Metal Ridley SA-X, & Dark Samus to have somewhat of a chance from the Metroid series.
Brawl was announced to have 40+ charaters, but it safe to assume there will be 45+ characters, with a possiblity of 50+ characters. Expect there to be similar numbers, if not higher in number of courses. Hopefully new announcements & developments will come soon! Just because I going nuts! I need a brand new Brawl trailer or two!