I'm very certain it is the later as we do see the Mii Swords fighter and Mii Gunner in the screenshot. I would say that this increases Meta Knight's chance if he wasn't at 100% already to be confirmed. He's one of Sakurai's babies and with all the love that Kid Icarus is getting, losing a Kirby rep is the last thing in mind for this iteration of Smash Bros. If anything the reason why it's taking him so long to be confirmed is that he is probably the veteran that needs the most work done on him as he was completely broken in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and being the only character in Brawl to have his own tier, at the SS-tier. They are probably are going to nerf Meta Knight by a vast amount but so long as he's playable (in the sense that he still has a strong potential to win against other characters), he should be fine.
They're both Mii Swordfighters, the right Mii just has a futuristic skin on. I'm one to believe that having Meta Knight's mask as accessory doesn't impact his role in the slightest; not for or against the potential of being playable. All it means is the character is acknowledged, in the same way Mario and Samus have been referenced with Mii hats. Despite this, I do think Meta Knight will return as playable, and that Sakurai is just teasing at the fact he hasn't been shown yet.
I'm certain Meta Knight won't be as good as he was in
Brawl, however being changed isn't the only reason he may be held back to be shown so far. Characters such as Bowser and Pit have changed a lot and were revealed initially, while Captain Falcon was only shown to us last month and has little different about him. I doubt characters are shown to us as they are ready, just whenever they feel it's appropriate to do so.
True, but to be fair the Ice Climbers being a tag-team character is both their strength and weakness. Simply getting separating the two Ice Climbers, it always weakens the player to half his/her strength. As for the Ice Climbers, I really don't see how they are powerful with the exception of their chain grabs but I really am not sure if it is possible to program to not do a chain grab consider they are proximity within each other's reach and someone is bound to find a way to desync the Ice Climbers. As of now, there has never been a retro character ever cut from Smash (Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, and R.O.B.) and considering not only do they represent Nintendo's retro era but have unique movesets that can't be copied by other characters. I do believe we they are safe from being cut.
PhantomTriforce is correct in saying the general grab game isn't as strong this time around, if the demo is any indication, and the Ice Climbers shouldn't be as strong for that reason alone. On a personal note, the Ice Climbers are the only character that wouldn't cause me to grieve if they were cut. I don't feel the appeal and their role as "retro" doesn't mean much when we have R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch around, who I think do the deed much greater. We also have Mega Man and Pac Man with many retro aspects, and Olimar and Rosalina who have other unique controlled beings.
EDIT: Meta Knight has just been revealed:
Pic of the day. "Looks like there was an impostor in the earlier posts, so I introduced him to my sword!" ...I'll leave it up to your imagination if he really said that or not. The veteran hero, Meta Knight, returns to battle!! We didn't forget the Battleship Halberd either!!
Meta Knight's Up Special Move, Shuttle Loop, changed quite a bit in this game. The glide is gone, and the attack slashes opponents twice while spinning in a large loop. This has turned into a highly technical and effective move.
His page on the official site can be found
here, with ten screenshots as usual.