Well, I think most players aren't playing at pro levels, and a lot of that meta doesn't always apply.
When brawl came out, it was almost immediately apparent who was good and who was bad, ignoring high-level stuff like ice climbers chain grabs. Metaknight was clearly really good, and ganondorf was clearly really bad, and all of that was evident really early on.
I don't get the same feeling this time. I feel like while the game might not be perfectly balanced, the tier gap might be might tighter/smaller this time around. Who knows, though.