Latch drop openings are nice and very fast, yes. But, man can not live on latch drops alone. What about flips and spins and whips and twirls and exchanges and snaps and tosses and catches and and and... oh my.
In a combative situation, I would not A) use a balisong if I didn't have to. You know I love these knives, but the modern folders such as the BM AFCK or Rekat Escalator, IMHO, obsolete the balisong as a weapon and relegate, or raise it, to art. And B) wouldn't use a latch drop since you don't have a positive enough grip.
My first use of a balisong (or other folder) in a combative situation would probably be as either a punch weight or as an impact weapon. In those cases, a firm grip is important. A lot of people like to talk about the intimidation factor of a fancy balisong opening. This assumes that 1) you see the attack coming and face your opponent before the fight even starts (Hollywood style), 2) you will properly execute the opening when you hands are denched in nervous sweat, your heart is going about 250 beats/min. pumping a solution of 50% blood and 50% adrenalin, you have lost your fine motor skills, your opponent is trying to disarm you, and you may already have been hit, 3) that you will have the time and space to execute the opening, 4) that your oponent, who is now suffering tunnel vision and who is now actually no longer hearing will pay any attention to the opening, 5) that your opponent isn't some combination of drunk, high, or insane, and 6) that your opponent is going to be impressed with or scared by your opening. Don't count on all of these things happening.
Keep in mind also that if you draw a knife and demonstrate some special competence with that knife by executing some unusual opening, you have just (at least here in Oregon) licensed your opponent to draw a gun and shoot you regardless of what the situation may be, who started it, who hit whom, who was trying to rob whom, etc. Yes, even a criminal in the act of committing a violent crime against you has a right to self-defense if you escalate the situation to deadly force.
One of the original strengths of the balisong is that you can draw it quickly and quietly, carry it in your hand unseen, make a few hits with it and your opponent will never know why that fist felt so hard, open it quickly and stealthily with one hand, slash and thrust a few times, close it up, resheath it and be done without your opponent, or anyone else, ever seeing the knife. In a combat situation, I'd probably stick to a simple, reliable, quick, non-flashy single-flip opening.
Remember, though, a real fight is chaos. In a real fight, the best made plans of mice and me go right out the window. This is why repetitive and constant training is so very important. That two-hour class you took two years ago isn't worth anything today. You may be able to remember and show me all the techniques if you think about it for just a split second. But, in a real fight, you don't get to remember and you don't get to think.
Chuck
