How is BLM in new expansion?

[Sleigh]

SMN was never preffered over BLM. In first coil, they ran out of mana much sooner than any other MP using class, forcing either massive DPS loss or a BRD to play manasong before the other classes could take full advantage of the MP regen. Additionally, if movement was required and their DoTs fell off, their DPS suffered much more than a BLM's would because DoTs were their primary form of damage. There was a long stretch where SMN simply were not allowed into any competitive content. They also didn't add much more utility than a SCH already added via Virus/E4E. Their DPS was never higher than BLM's either. I don't know which game you've been playing.

As far as "more complex because I have to watch timers now"

Seriously? Every other DPS class in the game has had to live or die by their ability to keep track of their timers. BLM can learn to live with it.

SMN was top DPS in 2.0, and none of the fights/phases sans T4 (where BLM was king) were long enough for SMN to go OoM unless your group was complete shit. SMN had Thunder, and BLM was doing about 5-10% less than 2.3 BLM, and all the melee were highly less effective than 2.1/2.45 buffs turned them into.

Then 2.1 hit and both BLM and SMN got nerfed, and BLM not only got nerfed but they got a lot more awkward while SMN became more basic; SMN still reigned supreme, especially in the 2.1 content. 2.2, BLM DPS just wasn't up to par, and the fights were exceptionally well designed for SMN (T8 the only outlier). 2.3, the damage buff to BLM finally put it at a level where it could do well, but SMN did pretty well too - it was a point where BLM/SMN were pretty well balanced IMO except for T8, and BLM had to work really hard to win in T9 due to its nature but it could do it.

2.4, the MP issues came - all fights were T8 in length and relatively BLM friendly. Once you put MP issues into the mix, SMN is a bit lower than BLM, so it became pretty bad.

Flash forward to 3.0. I have Hive weapon and I can safely say BLM does win on a dummy (barely) now, but SMN's gonna win in any dungeon, any extreme primal, every time, GG. No MP issues, extreme AoE, still mobile. BLM got both nerfed AoE, and their mechanic became one of the most sensitive to not continuously attacking in the entire game, dare I say the most sensitive of anyone. BLM is quite effective still at what it does, but holy shit does it do bad when there are mechanics, if you think BLM can stand against anyone in Bismark/Ravana extreme, you're wrong, and SMN is topping the charts.