Thats not correct and you know it.
If we see the win rate, the best leader was ursine ritual, wich 90% its lippy/cerys. And you know viy its the favorite deck to win. Also, heatwave and curse of corruption already were been used in this deck
Also, if you see the other top 5 leader no one of them carry those cards because viy.
Precision strike its natural control and already has heatwave and curse of corruption
deadeye ambush - i really cant remember using those cards in this deck
Uprising - ok, this deck has yrden or geralt on it, but its fits perfect
patricidal fury - normaly its devotion warriors
only the 6th leader - lockdown - was made by face viy (but also works well agains ursine ritual, wich is the first in the list)
So where are the decks created only to counter viy? I cant see that. The decks wich use heatwave and curse of corruption already use it before viy
Good pro players are using they decks and winning, just as that. They are note creating especifics decks to counter viy, thats bullshit.
Viy deck its in 8th in the win rate and the explanation its simple, viy its not so superb as people think. And the numbers and winrate are there to show you., if you whant to context the numbers by your personal experience you can, but you know, or should know, thats is wrong
I will admit to using some hyperbole in the post to which you responded, but the point is obviously still valid. Far more decks now carry multiple tall removal cards than ever before. Prior to the last expansion, curse of corruption, Rivia, and Yrden were rare, Igni and Yrden never appeared in the same deck, and I had never seen spores played. Now all are common. Without experimentation, it would be hard to attribute all these changes strictly to Viy. For instance, Yrden is useful against Kolgrim, Gezras, the new targets for Vessimir: Tutor etc. But unlike these other new cards, Viy demands multiple tall punish except for a small handful of NG and possibly SK builds. And I can’t attribute the sudden rise in popularity of NG to Viy as some of it is unquestionably because NG has almost become playable again.
And as for your examples of leaders that allegedly naturally use tall removal, I can’t comment. I don’t have at hand preexpansion deck lists to check your claims. They don’t fit my memory, but that could be faulty. Anyway, meta decks for all leaders have significantly changed since the introduction of Viy, and I am now aware of no meta decks that do not use significant amounts of tall removal. Lippy decks can get by with less because they can use it twice. And not all play is or should be with meta decks.
I apologize for not responding to this post sooner. It was not out of disrespect, but because I do not have the necessary records to objectively show what I believe to be its falsehood. Even if I had kept perfect records of cards I encountered in every deck both before and after the expansion, it would only reflect one experience.
If you truly do not believe Viy decks require specific (otherwise awkward) card combinations to have even a chance, I challenge you to tell me how to defeat it without the lockdown leader ability (available to only one faction), at least two instances of tall removal (which remains generally anti synergistic), shenagins with the likes of Ihuarraquax (again not natural in deck design), or relying on extreme RNG.