He never said you transe and DF. He said you waste the transe. Use only 4 seconds out of the 16 of your first trance is a waste of it, but yes it is a DPS gain so it's how it's done.
Only use 2 of the 6 GCDs you would normally use, but can't, otherwise you're delaying AF, remains a definition of a waste. Every SMN here knows it's for the sake of the opener and AFand does it, but the very, very principle of shortening a buff is, in it's very core, clunky. I don't know how anyone cannot be bothered by that level of clunkyness.

Also, your answer to Flana about clunkyness : yes every job has some clunky in it, but he clearly mentioned conflicting mechanics, not just clunkyness. Like when Foul used to cost mana (spending mana on regen phase : conflicting mechanic)