Kazuya Mishima from the Tekken series is making his way into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate later this month. The reveal at Nintendo's E3 Direct showed off an amusing cinematic trailer in line with previous DLC reveal trailers interspersed with a decent chunk of gameplay footage. While a full breakdown of Kazuya's moveset in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is coming at a later date, there's enough information in the new trailer to make some pretty safe inferences about his role within the game's meta.
Kazuya's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate moveset was largely revealed in the trailer alongside the tongue-in-cheek cinematics. The game's penchant for creating very faithful adaptations of its guest characters abilities in Smash seems to be on full display with Kazuya. His signature moves like the Twister Kick, Dragon Punch, and even the Tekken mechanic of the 10-Hit Combo all look like near one-to-one adaptations from the Tekken series. The obvious caveat is that Smash Ultimate is a 2D fighter, so moves that would either hit in three dimensions or move a character into the back or foreground don't do so in this case.
Kazuya Will Likely Be a Rush-Down Character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
At least at face value, Kazuya's moveset seems to lend itself towards a rush-down strategy. Adapting Kazuya into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate means finding a way to balance out his almost exclusively melee moveset. It remains to be seen which commands will be tied to which command, and if Smash Ultimate will make use of a unique system similar to the way it does for Ryu and Ken. Tekken has a specific kind of command system where each button is tied to a specific limb, i.e. right punch or left kick. This is how combos are built in Tekken, but doesn't necessarily fit into the Smash mold with ease.
It's more likely that combinations of Normal and Special commands will contribute to the lengthier combos Kazuya is capable of, but either way he looks like a strong offensive type character. Ironically, the crouching dash mechanic that all of the Mishima family is capable of in Tekken mirrors the wave dash mechanic that exists in Melee. This will likely make Kazuya a formidable opponent on the ground, as he'll likely be able to avoid projectiles and close distances deftly. This versatility of movement could quickly put Kazuya higher on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tier lists. Though he is not without projectiles entirely, as evidenced by his Devil Gene form.
In the Tekken series, Kazuya is one of the characters possessing the Devil Gene, prompting his transformation into the winged demon form shown in the trailer. It seems like the system for Kazuya's Devil Gene could work similarly to Sephiroth's One-Winged Angel form, where the mode is activated after reaching a certain damage threshold. This mechanic is part of what's put Sephiroth and Persona 5's Joker higher up on competitive tier lists. The mode grants Kazuya some special attacks including a dashing fist strike and his signature laser beams. As one of the rumored DLC fighters for Smash for a while, it's been fascinating to see these iconic features on display.
The other thing to consider is that the Tekken Rage system is also at work in the trailer. Presumably based on the mechanic in Tekken proper, Kazuya will receive a general damage buff after a certain damage percentage. While Kazuya was a character fans wanted in Smash Ultimate, balancing out these two mechanics will go a long way in where Kazuya lands in the meta. Overall, the safest assumptions so far is that Kazuya will be a character focused on keeping the fight grounded, closing distance, and crowding out enemies with a flurry of attacks. More will be known once the full gameplay breakdown comes from Nintendo.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.