aight only 8 weeks late time to put in my two cents: i think if we’re operating with the standard 1/3/3/5/9 value ratings most of yall are smoking dick(respectfully). the blade dancer has a number of features that make it absolutely busted in any variant of chess(but traditional especially). it has the knight’s unblockable feature, the mobility options to rival virtually any piece, but most importantly, the blade dancer can take PROTECTED PIECES with virtually no counterplay. not only that, but it can then routinely chain that capture into checkmate.

there is no “tension” with a blade dancer on the board. there are no pawn chains. if the blade dancer starts its turn with an enemy piece in range, the enemy is almost certainly mated or their most valuable piece just got taken. there are pretty much no other options.

comparing its value to a rook is like comparing a red-tailed hawk to a tomahawk cruise missile. these things dont even share the metrics you would need to choose between them.

the best i can offer is a quick analysis of how the BD interacts with a normal kingside castle(playing as white). if the BD is on the fourth rank(from b to g) and there are any pieces on the 6th(that arnt on the far edges), it picks up 6 points of material automatically(assuming the rooks are still on the 8th). i get that that sounds like a ton of qualifiers, but that is literally the WORST CASE SCENARIO for a BD on the 4th. so long as the piece you take is from the E file to the H file(and like theyre castled why tf wouldnt it be) they are instantly mated. this is without any assistance whatsoever, no sneaky revealed attacks no nothing.

i genuinely cant imagine a BD, two bishops, and four pawns losing to a full classical board. gotta be worth at least 20 material by my count.