It's really hard to say for sure until we see who this meta caters to. I would imagine that the usual suspects such as ZSS, Bayonetta, FE swordies (Marth and Ike are looking disgustingly good this time around) and other combo-heavy characters will lock him out of high-tier, but it's hard to say for sure due to his potential zoning, super armour priority, amazing pivot grab and quick aerials.
There's too much we don't know yet that will rock King K. Rool's world for the worse if they aren't up to snuff.
- Whether the Blunderbuss' shots can be aimed or not.
- How exactly the Krown works in the most practical of situations... Can Villager Pocket it and essentially lock your move for half the fight? Or the entire fight if he plans the re-spawn just right?
- How much super armour he really has and what kind of priority it gets (beating out Little Mac's moves is very convincing so far)
- How slow Helipak travels, and if it has super armour or not.
The last one in particular could be a major concern. If it travels too slow and does not possess super armour, it could be beaten out by the likes of Mario Fire Balls or other janky moves, and if it does not possess a hit-box near the top, it may very well be the worst recovery in the game. That being said, I am pretty confident that it will possess at least a degree of super armour and/or a hit-box, given how it functions in DKC3.
In summary, King K. Rool has stuff going for him, but he also has a lot of question marks pertaining to his capabilities that could heavily skew his placement for better or for worse.
Overall, I think Mew2King's analysis is also interesting to keep in mind, since he is a bit more of a realist about some of the moves that do appear to be laggy -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-rtkKCc4pQ
Whatever the case, I plan to use him regardless.
