Is there much of a need for a multiple-outs soundcard for a home studio
nowadays?

I remember when I first bought my Echo Gina, I loved the fact that I could
route 8 outs into 8 different channels of my Mackie outboard mixer. I could
EQ each out as I wanted. But this was back when Cakewalk (my tool of choice)
didn't have virtual main outs I could assign any track I wanted to. The only
way to have more mains, back then, was to have more devices... or a device -
like the Gina - that was 4 devices in one. This way, I could apply specific
effects on each of the 4 groups. 5 groups if you count the SoundBlaster
(soundfont) main.

Things have since evolved. Cakewalk is now become Sonar, and Sonar will
group your tracks any way you want. You can have 20 groups of 5, or 5 groups
of 20... and you can apply effects to each group, or each track
individually. In other words, you can have as many virtual mains as you
want.

Has this made multiple-outs for home recording obsolete? Everything is being
done within the computer anyway. So much so that I've forgotten why I wanted
multiple outs to begin with.

Am I about to make a big mistake by looking at 2-in, 2-out cards from now on
to keep things simple, and focus only on the sound quality and the
converters?

Am I being too hasty? What am I not taking into consideration that will have
me pulling my hair later on if I go this route?