Elma for Smash Ultimate: Strength comes from experience. That’s true on any planet.

[Bebe Mignon]

Yay! Hopefully we get this track.

Nay!

Yes, please!

This track is super underrated. I love it.

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

How about this track?

Don't forget this track!

I'd be surprised if we had any more than 2 sets of reveals: 1 in a general Nintendo Direct that will likely come in September for any non-ballot related characters, and another Smash Direct around a month before launch for the final hype bombs of fanservice. If a Xeno X port is coming and the Xeno 2 datamine hasn't formally been announced by Gamescom, I'd say we have a perfect recipe for an Elma tie-in next month.

 

[Mistaros]

This confirms that the Xenoblade series has songs outside of the original Xenoblade. If it only contained songs from the original game, then the Xenoblade series would've been lumped into the "Other series" category.

This means we'll likely get XCX songs (maybe XC2 too). It's not much, but it's still encouraging to see.

Sorry but you forgot what is said a few seconds before " if the song has no fighters or stage corresponding".
Which means that the xenoblade songs will not be in the others section because shulk is playable and we have gaur plain as a stage.
Sorry to say that but this is not a evidence for xenoblade X tracks.

 

[Nonno Umby]

Sorry but you forgot what is said a few seconds before " if the song has no fighters or stage corresponding".
Which means that the xenoblade songs will not be in the others section because shulk is playable and we have gaur plain as a stage.
Sorry to say that but this is not a evidence for xenoblade X tracks.

They also said "or if they come from a single game, they appear in others". In fact under Others you can see songs for Duck Hunt and Ice Climbers.
But Xenoblade has its own playlist, which means the songs comes from more than one game.

You are dreaming too much if you are expecting Elma AND a Xenoblade 2 fighter, DLC or not. Xenoblade is not Fire Emblem.

It is honestly either a Xenoblade X or Xenoblade 2 rep. I would much rather have Elma since Xenoblade X was a solid game (unlike 2), and Elma is really cool. But honestly neither a XCX or XC2 rep is extremely likely to me, since this Smash is very focused on popular requests.

I don't think that having Elma in the base roster (chosen back in late 2015) and Rex as DLC after how well XC2 sold is wishful thinking. XC2 has sold more than 1 million copies in just a month, that's impressive for a JRPG not named Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. While it may not be at the same level as FE right now, it is surely Nintendo's RPG flagship series, it's relevant and each new game outsold the previous, constantly growing. It's not going to get 7 reps like FE, but if a dead series like Mother can get 2, I don't see the problem with Xenoblade getting 3.

 

[FireFury190]

You are dreaming too much if you are expecting Elma AND a Xenoblade 2 fighter, DLC or not. Xenoblade is not Fire Emblem.

It is honestly either a Xenoblade X or Xenoblade 2 rep. I would much rather have Elma since Xenoblade X was a solid game (unlike 2), and Elma is really cool. But honestly neither a XCX or XC2 rep is extremely likely to me, since this Smash is very focused on popular requests.

While I believe that Elma isn't as popular a request as the other newcomers we've gotten which is the only thing holding back her chances, you seriously don't think Rex is a popular request? Or that Xenoblade isn't deserving enough to get 2 new characters in Ultimate (DLC or not)? Seriously ever since Ultimate was first teased I've seen so many people requesting Rex & Pyra. Hell a recent Japanese poll showed that Rex was the most requested character for Ultimate. Not to mention Sakurai has played Xenoblade 2 and loved it. Even if Rex doesn't make in the base roster, there is going to be a very high chance he will be DLC. Whether Elma is in the base game or not. There are seriously no rules on how many characters a franchise can get in a single Smash entry.

The only reason why not having a XCX AND a XC2 character together is low in my eyes is mainly because of Elma's popularity and demand. Japanese fans don't seem to care for XCX and you barely saw people request her during the Smash ballot. Her only chances of being in would be because of relevancy at the time Ultimate started development.

 

[Mistaros]

They also said "or if they come from a single game, they appear in others". In fact under Others you can see songs for Duck Hunt and Ice Climbers.
But Xenoblade has its own playlist, which means the songs comes from more than one game.

That's true. But for those games you only have duck hunt & duck hunt remix or ice climbers & ice climbers remix.
And making a sub playlist for just two songs (or three songs like wrecking crew) is weird.
While for the xeno franchise just with the first game we already have 9 in wii u and I thinks few more at least from the first one at least ( unfinished battle <3).
If only the cursor could have been on the monado

I'm rooting for Elma but I think this evidence is kind of weak. But I want to be wrong.

 

[Nonno Umby]

That's true. But for those games you only have duck hunt & duck hunt remix or ice climbers & ice climbers remix.
And making a sub playlist for just two songs (or three songs like wrecking crew) is weird.
While for the xeno franchise just with the first game we already have 9 in wii u and I thinks few more at least from the first one at least ( unfinished battle <3).
If only the cursor could have been on the monado

I'm rooting for Elma but I think this evidence is kind of weak. But I want to be wrong.

If you look closely in the trailer you can see that Game and Watch has his playlist...with 2 songs, (Flat Zone 1 and 2 most likely). I rest my case.

 

[IronWarrior94]

Whether Elma is in or not, I'm fairly certain we're going to get tracks from Xenoblade X in this game. Sawano was apparently doing an unknown recording session around March, and some believe this was for Smash since it's similar to another composer(name escapes me atm) who did the same thing.

 

[Mistaros]

If you look closely in the trailer you can see that Game and Watch has his playlist...with 2 songs, (Flat Zone 1 and 2 most likely). I rest my case.

Didn't know this but thanks for the info.
But what about FF who still has only 2 songs. By your reasoning those two songs are from 2 differents ff games.
And it will be most likely ff7 battle and its remix.
And that's the case I think we should not forget for the xenoblade series.
1 fighter 1 stage 1 subplaylist but only songs from 1 game.

I think sakurai is playing with us.

 

[Nonno Umby]

Didn't know this but thanks for the info.
But what about FF who still has only 2 songs. By your reasoning those two songs are from 2 differents ff games.
And it will be most likely ff7 battle and its remix.
And that's the case I think we should not forget for the xenoblade series.
1 fighter 1 stage 1 subplaylist but only songs from 1 game.

I think sakurai is playing with us.

I think FF is an exception because it is a TP franchise. Also it appears that it has more to do with licensing issues rather than Sakurai's choice. It could be also argued about Galaga and such, but they are litteraly a single song.

About Xenoblade if there are songs from X/2 then they come from more than one game, that's why we are speculation about it.

 

[Mistaros]

Let's hope for it guys

 

[FrostShock]

While we're on the subject of music, I've been rewatching the trailers for Simon and K. Rool non-stop just to hear those remixes of Bloodlines and Gangplank Galleon. It makes me so excited for the prospect of music from X.

 

[Oracle_Summon]

While we're on the subject of music, I've been rewatching the trailers for Simon and K. Rool non-stop just to hear those remixes of Bloodlines and Gangplank Galleon. It makes me so excited for the prospect of music from X.

Speaking of which what song would be fitting for Elma's introduction?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Speaking of which what song would be fitting for Elma's introduction?

Uncontrollable, no question. Even the instrumental version would be fine

 

[FrostShock]

Speaking of which what song would be fitting for Elma's introduction?

I've always said that I want to hear Black Tar for her trailer, but that seems to be a minority opinion.

 

[Nonno Umby]

I also think that the mid part of No.Ex 01 would be cool for the moveset showcase.

 

[ColtonS25]

I know that it doesn't really match the intensity of a character reveal, but Theme X is basically the theme of both Elma and the game, so I'd love to see it incorporated somehow. But Uncontrollable is definitely the one they'd go with.

On the topic of music, give me remixes of The Key We've Lost and the Overdrive Theme. And just include the entire soundtrack while we're at it. Even X's music alone is such an awesome possibility. To me, Simon Belmont and King K. Rool have proved without a shadow of a doubt that the team behind these character trailers will make such an awesome, hype-inducing trailer even for someone who isn't as highly requested like Elma.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I know that it doesn't really match the intensity of a character reveal, but Theme X is basically the theme of both Elma and the game, so I'd love to see it incorporated somehow. But Uncontrollable is definitely the one they'd go with.

On the topic of music, give me remixes of The Key We've Lost and the Overdrive Theme. And just include the entire soundtrack while we're at it. Even X's music alone is such an awesome possibility. To me, Simon Belmont and King K. Rool have proved without a shadow of a doubt that the team behind these character trailers will make such an awesome, hype-inducing trailer even for someone who isn't as highly requested like Elma.

THEMEX could be Elma’s victory theme, or a snippet thereof. They’re definitely not gonna use YWKON for Elma’s fanfare xD

 

[Bebe Mignon]

Speaking of introductions, K.K. Rooler ♫ came up with a stupid crazy story involving Pigma and Elma's Skell...but I think it's best for me to shut up and not say any more. Lol

Back on topic, I think NEMOUSU秘OUS would be fitting for the first part of Elma's trailer (since it plays twice: the first time we see Elma and again during her reveal). Then it would transition to Uncontrollable since that's pretty much the most popular and well-known song from the game.

 

[PSIGuy]

An idea I saw floating around was Fiora being made into an Echo of Elma. She also uses Dual Blades and her drones could fill in for gun attacks, she's reasonably popular but not enough to get in as a newcomer, she has a new model in Shulk's Final Smash they can use and she along with Shulk is a guest Blade in XB2 already.

I think after Dark Samus and Chrom, Elma's chances are up.

 

[Fierymew]

An idea I saw floating around was Fiora being made into an Echo of Elma. She also uses Dual Blades and her drones could fill in for gun attacks, she's reasonably popular but not enough to get in as a newcomer, she has a new model in Shulk's Final Smash they can use and she along with Shulk is a guest Blade in XB2 already.

I think after Dark Samus and Chrom, Elma's chances are up.

I love the idea, but I think the fact that she does have a new model for Shulk's final smash means that her chances of being a fighter are drastically reduced now.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I love the idea, but I think the fact that she does have a new model for Shulk's final smash means that her chances of being a fighter are drastically reduced now.

Well, regular Samus does show up in Zero Suit’s Final Smash, and Fox and Falco show up in each other’s, so it’s not impossible I’d think. I’d say a 25% chance for upcoming echoes (including for example Proto Man and Kumatora) if I’m being generous. It’d only be 0% if they were an AT or victory screen character in addition to being in the final smash.

or if they’re Captain Toad, who while I’d have been ok with him, can’t jump anyway

 

[Bebe Mignon]

So...the known newcomers are:

-Inkling (Popularity, Relevancy)
-Daisy (Popularity, Relevancy, Echo fighter)
-Ridley (Popularity)
-Simon Belmont (Popularity)
-Richter (Echo fighter of Simon Belmont)
-Chrom (Popularity, Echo fighter, Relevancy)
-Dark Samus (Popularity, Echo fighter of Samus)
-King K. Rool (Popularity)

With the exception of Richter, the majority of the newcomers were highly requested characters with varying degrees of popularity. When the Ballot was around, I think Elma ranked higher than Richter but significantly below everyone else. It's unfortunate because the Ballot was conducted before the Western release of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Had the game come out simultaneously in April 2015, then Elma would've probably had a bigger presence on the Ballot.

In terms of relevancy, only the Inklings, Daisy, and possibly Chrom cover this category. The Inklings debuted in Splatoon and its sequel in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Daisy starred in a dozen or so Mario spin-off games over the last 10 years. Chrom appeared in Fire Emblem Awakening (2012), Fire Emblem Fates (2015), Fire Emblem Heroes (2017), and Fire Emblem Warriors (2017). Elma would fit this category well since her game came out in 2015 and is set to make an appearance in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 this year.

Echo fighters appear to be based on popular characters that share similar traits to previous Smash characters. Daisy comes from Peach, Chrom takes certain moves from some FE characters, and Dark Samus is based on Samus. Richter is a unique case because I don't think he was that highly requested compared to the others. I'm guessing he got the special treatment due to be a third-party character. I could be wrong--please correct me if I'm wrong.

Another interesting thing to note is the small amount of female characters. For this category, we only have the Inklings (with a male version too), Daisy, and Dark Samus. With the exception of the Inklings, we haven't had any unique female characters introduced so far. As far as I'm aware, there aren't many potential female characters left. Ashley and Krystal are out of the race. From the top of my head, all we have is Isabelle and Dixie Kong. I'm reluctant to label them as unique or Echo fighters since I don't consider myself well-informed in either of those characters.

Thoughts, comments?

 

[Nonno Umby]

So...the known newcomers are:

-Inkling (Popularity, Relevancy)
-Daisy (Popularity, Relevancy, Echo fighter)
-Ridley (Popularity)
-Simon Belmont (Popularity)
-Richter (Echo fighter of Simon Belmont)
-Chrom (Popularity, Echo fighter, Relevancy)
-Dark Samus (Popularity, Echo fighter of Samus)
-King K. Rool (Popularity)

With the exception of Richter, the majority of the newcomers were highly requested characters with varying degrees of popularity. When the Ballot was around, I think Elma ranked higher than Richter but significantly below everyone else. It's unfortunate because the Ballot was conducted before the Western release of Xenoblade Chronicles X. Had the game come out simultaneously in April 2015, then Elma would've probably had a bigger presence on the Ballot.

In terms of relevancy, only the Inklings, Daisy, and possibly Chrom cover this category. The Inklings debuted in Splatoon and its sequel in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Daisy starred in a dozen or so Mario spin-off games over the last 10 years. Chrom appeared in Fire Emblem Awakening (2012), Fire Emblem Fates (2015), Fire Emblem Heroes (2017), and Fire Emblem Warriors (2017). Elma would fit this category well since her game came out in 2015 and is set to make an appearance in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 this year.

Echo fighters appear to be based on popular characters that share similar traits to previous Smash characters. Daisy comes from Peach, Chrom takes certain moves from some FE characters, and Dark Samus is based on Samus. Richter is a unique case because I don't think he was that highly requested compared to the others. I'm guessing he got the special treatment due to be a third-party character. I could be wrong--please correct me if I'm wrong.

Another interesting thing to note is the small amount of female characters. For this category, we only have the Inklings (with a male version too), Daisy, and Dark Samus. With the exception of the Inklings, we haven't had any unique female characters introduced so far. As far as I'm aware, there aren't many potential female characters left. Ashley and Krystal are out of the race. From the top of my head, all we have is Isabelle and Dixie Kong. I'm reluctant to label them as unique or Echo fighters since I don't consider myself well-informed in either of those characters.

Thoughts, comments?

So far we have seen popular characters, but Richter isn't as far as I know, and he also had to be planned from the start because he is a TP (they had to license him etc etc), but I doubt it would only be fan favourites and Ballot picks.
They usually tend to reveal immediately the most hype inducing or the most requested characters (like Villager and Mega Man) and then move towards lesser characters (Olimar in Brawl and Shulk in Smash For). That's why I'm convinced that the next couple of announcments will be less fan request and more Sakurai picks.

I would also point out that of those characters only King K. Rool and Dark Samus can be considered irrelevant today. While Metroid didn't had a game in for some years, the series was never dead, and Ridley would have always been a part of it (in fact wasn't Samus Returns developed almost alongside Ultimate? I remember reading that they started development in 2014...).
And the Belmonts are TP characters, even if their series hasn't saw a new game for a while (which is debatable, since it received several smartphone games in Japan, one even this year) they have made history. I didn't saw anybody saying that "relevancy doesn't matter" becayse Mega Man and Pac-Man were in, which were both dead franchise back then.
Also, while Dark Samus is canonically dead, King K. Rool was just on hiatus, and they can easely bring him back in future DK games.

People would like to think that Geno, Skull Kid and Isaac are shoe-in, but that's streaching it (especially Skull Kid, since when he is suddently one of the most requested characters ever?!), but it would be hard to promote a game with those characters. One thing is using Ridley and King K. Rool, some of the most requested characters ever that never lost fans in these years (unlike Geno or Isaac, who both had immense support in Brawl and slowly faded away in Smash For), and Dark Samus was an easy clone. Chrom to was heavely requested for Smash For, and Sakuraj might have decided to add him due to being sorry for how poorly he treated his fans (the Waluigi fans complain about him being beaten as an AT? How about having an entire CGI cutscene were your character is shown BEATEN DOWN IN PAIN while all the other main characters from that game but him are revealed, closing with him saying with a sad tone "I suppose I'll get my chance another day...").

Edit: Also you bring a good point, we haven't seen many female characters added so far (and even Dark Samus is questionable, it is being referred with both attributes in official material). And we also lack any darker skin character. Elma would fill both roles.

And let's not forget how big Xenoblade X was for Nintendo and the Wii U. They can't overlook it as if it never happened.

 

[Wisehunter]

Been following this topic for a while now, and finally decided to join. Add me to the Elma support.


About the post above. I really don't think Simon is that popular. Honestly, before the leak, nowone was talking or asking for him. Heck, even now there still some who don't quite know who he is aside from being from Castlevania. Many more consider Alucard as the face of the franchise. And even Alucard was not that requested, much less Simon or Ricther.

On another note. Do you guys consider a chance that the Elma blade reveal happens after torna the golden country launch? I know it is unlikely, and that many thing after its release in September, that will be the end of Xenoblade 2 support, but I would not totally disregard she being announced as a blade just after that, unless I am not aware of some info.

Now, if they do want to release her before /until torna the golden country, so we have until September to keep high hopes for Elma.

Does anyone know how late in September torna the golden country will come?

 

[ColtonS25]

Been following this topic for a while now, and finally decided to join. Add me to the Elma support.


About the post above. I really don't think Simon is that popular. Honestly, before the leak, nowone was talking or asking for him. Heck, even now there still some who don't quite know who he is aside from being from Castlevania. Many more consider Alucard as the face of the franchise. And even Alucard was not that requested, much less Simon or Ricther.

On another note. Do you guys consider a chance that the Elma blade reveal happens after torna the golden country launch? I know it is unlikely, and that many thing after its release in September, that will be the end of Xenoblade 2 support, but I would not totally disregard she being announced as a blade just after that, unless I am not aware of some info.

Now, if they do want to release her before /until torna the golden country, so we have until September to keep high hopes for Elma.

Does anyone know how late in September torna the golden country will come?

Pretty sure that The Golden Country comes out on Semptember 21st, but I think that just might be the physical version, so it might be a little earlier otherwise.

Spoiler: Datamine Spoilers

So, it's been found that Elma is going to be a rare blade in the new update, which is rumored to come out later in August, around the time of Gamescom. So, if anything, Elma could be revealed there or in a direct with the announcement of a Xenoblade Chronicles X port. There are certain times that seem more likely, but anything is possible.

Edit:
Just looked it up and the digital release is a week earlier on the 14th.

 

[FrostShock]

Been following this topic for a while now, and finally decided to join. Add me to the Elma support.


About the post above. I really don't think Simon is that popular. Honestly, before the leak, nowone was talking or asking for him. Heck, even now there still some who don't quite know who he is aside from being from Castlevania. Many more consider Alucard as the face of the franchise. And even Alucard was not that requested, much less Simon or Ricther.

Welcome to New L.A.!

Yes, that's also true. Simon definitely had fans asking for him (like me), but from what I could tell, he was trailing far behind other third parties like Geno, Rayman, Banjo-Kazooie, Shovel Knight and Sora.

Heck, watching all the reaction videos people have been posting, most people seem to recognize him and the fact that he's an important part of Nintendo's history, but their knowledge of him doesn't extend beyond the fact that they know he's from Castlevania. It's even worse for Richter; seeing everybody react to him gives me the feeling that I'm one of maybe five people who knows who he is.

 

[Autobot N]

It's even worse for Richter; seeing everybody react to him gives me the feeling that I'm one of maybe five people who knows who he is.

Yeah. I had to google Ritcher after the splash screen, as I had no idea who he was.

Also, since my two most wanted newcomers (Tetra and Shantae) probably won’t be coming to Smash, I’ll throw my support behind Elma and hope something comes out of it.

 

[RandomAce]

Welcome to NLA!

@Royaru
@Sparklealyst
@Dr. Jojo Phantasma
K.K. Rooler ♫ (MY BROTHERRRRR)
@ZoroCarlos
ColtonS25
@WampaWreckage
@RayaGRH

I love how, despite many people downplaying Elma after the reveals of King K. Rool and Simon we’re still getting a bunch of new supporters.

I still think even with King K. Rool and Simon, that Elma is still very likely due to her appearing at the right time with a lot of unique moveset potential. We just have to wait for an awesome reveal.

 

[Wisehunter]

Cheers guys.

I see, so there is still time for a direct on September, good. If the only place left for her reveal was on gamescom, I would be concerned, as it seems to be too soon for yet another newcomer release.

 

[IronWarrior94]

So one thing: Did Sakurai play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 shortly before the Project plan for Ultimate began, or after?

 

[RandomAce]

So one thing: Did Sakurai play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 shortly before the Project plan for Ultimate began, or after?

Do you mean X?

He played Xenoblade 2 about a little less than 2 years after the project plan.

I’m unsure if he played X.

 

[MoonlitIllusion]

Do you mean X?

He played Xenoblade 2 about a little less than 2 years after the project plan.

I’m unsure if he played X.

He's a Xenoblade fan and it came out after Smash 4's release when they were just working on DLC so he was less busy, I'm sure he played it

 

[IronWarrior94]

Do you mean X?

He played Xenoblade 2 about a little less than 2 years after the project plan.

I’m unsure if he played X.

Meant Chronicles 2. But yeah, based on this it looks very unlikely that Rex and Pyra will be on the base roster, unless he pulled another Greninja and asked Monolith to give him the earliest info they had on the characters for the next game they would be working on(XC2). That means that at the time of deciding the roster, if he didn't approach Monolith and really wanted to add another Xenoblade character, then it's without doubt that he was looking at Elma for that potential newcomer rep.

 

[MoonlitIllusion]

Meant Chronicles 2. But yeah, based on this it looks very unlikely that Rex and Pyra will be on the base roster, unless he pulled another Greninja and asked Monolith to give him the earliest info they had on the characters for the next game they would be working on(XC2). That means that at the time of deciding the roster, if he didn't approach Monolith and really wanted to add another Xenoblade character, then it's without doubt that he was looking at Elma for that potential newcomer rep.

Yeah he's stated that Greninja was a special case because pokemon is, well...pokemon. I'm doubtful he'd do the same for Xenoblade of all franchises in 2015

 

[FrostShock]

Yeah he's stated that Greninja was a special case because pokemon is, well...pokemon. I'm doubtful he'd do the same for Xenoblade of all franchises in 2015

That's what I always say. On top of Pokemon being one of the highest grossing franchises in gaming, I'd venture a guess that Pokemon characters in general are way easier to develop than others. Greninja has no real personality outside of "is a ninja" so as long as you get that down, you're good. And designing a ninja is so easy, Sakurai came up with Greninja's entire moveset in one night.

Compare that to the massive amount of detail that's gone into our newcomers so far. I'm not super familiar with K. Rool, but I keep finding new, tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it details in Simon and Richter. The two of them have nods not only to the original Castlevania and Rondo of Blood, but also Castlevania II, Super Castlevania IV, Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow and maybe even more. A Pokemon doesn't need that level of detail put into them.

So if Sakurai is adding a character from a story-heavy RPG franchise, like Xenoblade, where every character has their own fighting style that can't be put into a simple archetype, it only makes sense he'd want to use a 100% complete character to avoid misrepresenting them and their franchise, as opposed to characters that were still in development and could have drastically changed at any point.

 

[IronWarrior94]

I'm not super familiar with K. Rool, but I keep finding new, tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it details in Simon and Richter.

It's the same with Simon and Richter. Fans from the K.Rool board have pointed out nearly all of the references to the DKC games in his moveset.

So yeah guys, I think at this point the only thing holding Elma back...is if Sakurai just didn't feel like Xenoblade needed a 2nd rep at the time of the project plan.

 

[Homelessvagrant]

So I've noticed that smashboards is in a tizzy after the last direct due to some of the announced characters. Beforehand there was this push for relevancy and now this has seemingly flipped to the discussion of Ballot popularity as the be all end all. This in itself has massively changed the perception of who will get in and who won't.

Personally I find this silly. Its as if most people ignored that the ballot was a thing and are now coming to the realization that it actually happened. Of course the ballot matters but just because the announcements have been swarming with ballot picks doesn't mean that all reveals will fall in that catagory as if Sakurai suddenly turned a blind eye to newcomer balance.

Elma's chances to be in the game have not decreased by any measure; (I mean percentages in getting in are rediculous to begin with but regardless). Sakurai has always focused on bringing the best of both past and present. Long time fan favorites are hype and people have been clamoring for them for years, so I can see why these kinds of characters have been revealed first. However, that doesn't necessarily make it "the rule"

Anyways sorry if this came out as a rant, this wasn't directed at anybody in particular just something I noticed generally in the boards. A lot of members of smashboards tend to limit possibilities based on arbitrary rules and "patterns". I still think Elma has a strong chance of being in, just not by the ballot. Anyways, it would be unfair to rule out her popularity by the ballot when her game didn't even come out worldwide until after the ballot had ended.

 

[Nonno Umby]

So I've noticed that smashboards is in a tizzy after the last direct due to some of the announced characters. Beforehand there was this push for relevancy and now this has seemingly flipped to the discussion of Ballot popularity as the be all end all. This in itself has massively changed the perception of who will get in and who won't.

Personally I find this silly. Its as if most people ignored that the ballot was a thing and are now coming to the realization that it actually happened. Of course the ballot matters but just because the announcements have been swarming with ballot picks doesn't mean that all reveals will fall in that catagory as if Sakurai suddenly turned a blind eye to newcomer balance.

Elma's chances to be in the game have not decreased by any measure; (I mean percentages in getting in are rediculous to begin with but regardless). Sakurai has always focused on bringing the best of both past and present. Long time fan favorites are hype and people have been clamoring for them for years, so I can see why these kinds of characters have been revealed first. However, that doesn't necessarily make it "the rule"

Anyways sorry if this came out as a rant, this wasn't directed at anybody in particular just something I noticed generally in the boards. A lot of members of smashboards tend to limit possibilities based on arbitrary rules and "patterns". I still think Elma has a strong chance of being in, just not by the ballot. Anyways, it would be unfair to rule out her popularity by the ballot when her game didn't even come out worldwide until after the ballot had ended.

Yeah, it's the typical bandwagon after a reveal. Just look at how people have been putting Crash Bandicoot and Solaire in their speculation video after they revealed the N'Sane Trilogy, Dark Souls and Smash in the same Direct. Look at how their support dropped after E3.

I can't wait to see Elma's revealed just to see the mealtdown in the speculation tread. At that point some people will not have any clue about what to think, since apparently it has to be "all relevancy! Spring Man and Rex are in!" or "all Ballot, Skull Kid and Isaac confirmed!", because a mixture of both is IMPAWSIBBLE!!!!

 

[Homelessvagrant]

Yeah it will be a meltdown alright...

I'm afraid if and when Elma is revealed, there will be a bit of salt and shade. I've seen a bit of hate thrown towards Elma for one reason or the other. Some people think she is a fad or bandwagon character and I know some people feel that Elma would steal Rex's slot. I think both are fallacious frames of thought but I can understand where some people could come to believe this.

I say this not to stur up controversy or start unnecessary drama, its just something I have thought about and believe may be a potential scenario to be mentally prepared for. I just hope that in said hypothetical scenario, that the fans of Elma are mature enough to just shrug it off. Hopefully though I am just being ridiculous and the loud minority within Smashboards are more mature than I am giving them credit for. I kind of expected the same thing with Red's reveal but was pleasantly surprised.