Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25266931-20161228230634/@comment-4010415-20161229030620

Like Spirited said. Imagine Qrow swinging the scythe at Tyrian, only for Tyrian to use his agility to dodge the blade and get into a position where Qrow cannot quickly or easily change the positioning of his scythe to attack him. He would have to try his best to move away from Tyrian without getting hit.

If he uses the sword form, he doesn't have that problem.