Why? Because they don't suck resources out of your main computer. Because they're instruments, with their own physical interface that's better and surely more inspiring then fiddling around with a mouse or controlling it with cheap plastic controller. Then, it's arguably better because it's a dedicated system that does not have to share its resources with the rest of the tasks a computer has to run under the hood.
The Nord Lead doesn't allow you to lock initial phase position for their oscillators, but let's remember that Virtual Analogue was first thought as a replacement for real analogue machines, giving you more polyphony and options then most of them, while still allowing you the same level of interaction with it! The last part is of course important, since they also appeal to live usage and they can easily beat any software synth on that department!
In the studio, something like the Virus can be thought of like a bread and butter thing. But you can also throw big fat poly sounds or unison patches to a mix without seeing the cpu meter go up a notch, while having perfect control to tweak when recording while you're at it - contributing to a more organic feel overall, that's the main advantage of hardware vs software btw (to my mind at least). Then, software synths are getting a lot better lately, but I still love the sound!
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