CHANGE LOG:
-3 Lingering Souls -1 Cryptic Command
+2 Thoughtseize +1 Mana Leak +1 Logic Knot
Combo and aggro run quite rampant in the current Modern format. Lingering Souls is a card that leaves us far too vulnerable if it's cast any time before at least turn 5, and usually later than that as well. That's not really a card we can afford to run, and it's worth losing out on the benefit of having some flying blockers.
As for Cryptic Command, it is of course an extremely powerful card– that being said, seeing slightly less than one copy of the card per game is a totally fine rate, and in the grindy matchups in which the card excels, the remainder of our support will help draw them. I believe it is stronger to run 2 copies of the card in order to smooth out the draws, as pulling two of them in the opener can feel very clunky.
The added cards all serve the same purpose- give us more interaction in the early game so that it's much less likely that we get beaten up in the first few turns to the point of no recovery. Thoughtseize is especially terrific against the large amount of combo decks in the format that rely on having a full grip of fuel and action in their opener, and Thoughtseize is a great way to break up their plans. The increased Mana Leak and Logic Knot numbers are primarily for the chances of seeing them in the opener. They're not terrible in the late game, but it's very important to have them early on. Plus, this gives our Snaps more reliable targets in the mid game, especially on turn 4.
-1 Dismember +1 Snapcaster Mage
Now that our Snaps have been powered up by the addition of two 2-CMC counter spells, and the removal of Lingering Souls, having a full playset makes great sense. Dismember is a good card, but with 8 other hard removal spells it ends up being quite unnecessary. Adding a Snap also gives us access to an equal number of removal than the copy of Dismember, while being both more versatile and not as taxing on our limited life total.
