It's not making it "more competitive" because you can't quantify a qualitative word. Similarly, I can't say that something is "more red" if I'm handed two shades of red that each fill the whole same-sized thing - yeah, I can say one looks to be closer to a red I find ideal, but if they're just different shades of red, neither has a claim to being the most red.
It's making the game into the kind of competition they prefer, as compared to the competition that Smash 4 currently offers.
Unless you can standardize all equipment, I doubt it will catch on - and even if you can't, I don't think it will (kinda hope it doesn't since some recoveries become downright awful).
For the record, I have heard smooth lander cuts landing lag by 1/3.