TheSwarmer

I think [[Umori, the Collector]] is a fundamentally bad companion unfortunately. It's only really good if you're running mono-creatures, in which case you kind of have to go aggro, in which case a 4-drop that gives a meager discount is not what you want to be doing for 4 mana. Like, what the card gives you is either a worse Mono Green or Gruul aggro deck, or a worse Rock or Abzan midrange.

Maybe the deck could work as something that fair decks have trouble beating? Like, anything that aims to win via creature combat of the sort that does not involve a [[primeval titan]] on turn 3 or the like could maybe just struggle against a deck that plays very high-value, must-remove threats on top of having 1 extra card in the form of a 4/5. But I don't know what that would look like.

I really like the staying power of this version

I have really enjoyed dying to transformative sideboards out of Fog players when they bring in Tolarian Terrors. Though I have also enjoyed calling this and winning the game off of keeping in edict effects.

Also, why only 3 Tangle?

Hmmm, why play this instead of just regular goblin combo? Looks more resilient on account of a higher number of payoffs but those also look like they may clog up your hand when you'd rather be drawing something else.

If you're gonna run fetch lands and deathtouch creatures then [[Fatal Push]] is probably gonna be better than [[Mirrodin Avenged]]. Plus by not running the latter you don't have to keep getting reminded of one of the most butchered storylines WotZy ever shat out their greedy asses.

Hmm, I think that would all work better in a dedicated [[Dread Return]] build, here it's more of an additive or a plan B or the two in the one-two-punch that occurs late enough in the game to where 1/1s for one don't really matter as mana is abundant and the board already either has dudes on it or the game is lost.

Once again though, this would all require testing as I have no idea:
How quickly the deck can mill itself on average.
How many cards in the graveyard translate to on average how much Giant damage.
How often the deck wants to sack 3 creatures to reanimate a giant.
What is the earliest turn ^ is likely to be worth it on average.

I'll have to actually test this, but I agree, farmer is probably better than treefolk in this build.

Oh and how is initiate in any way similar to the imp? Lifelink is a huge deal in the current metagame and a huge deal in this deck with [[Basilisk Gate]]. [[Cabal Initiate]] has twice as much power as [[putrid imp]], which makes it actually relevant in the early game when we're on the offensive, and it ends up a 3/3 not a 2/2, also a big deal with [[experimental synthesizer]] samurai, [[kor skyfisher]]s, and [[Glint Hawk]]s running around.

[[Dread Return]] is likely to get boarded out in games 2&3 in almost all cases where heavy graveyard hate is to be expected. Furthermore, it's not like we are racing towards reanimating a [[Lotleth Giant]] nor do we lack dudes to sack due to running 3 [[Grave Scrabbler]]s and an abundance of 1/1s.

Generally, Abzan colors stress the mana base too much with TE requiring lots of black and green being as good as necessary on turn 2. You can go Abzan if you cut [[Grave Scrabbler]]s but that is downright asinine as it makes your lategame worse than that of mono red aggro.

My previous version: https://www.mtgvault.com/theswarmer/decks/pauper-tortured-existence-v8-2/ is much more in line with some of your suggestions as a slower, more traditional version.

[[Tilling Treefolk]] in addition to [[Eccentric Farmer]] does seem like a relatively good idea, though the card is rather slow being a 3 mana 1/3 and I am not entirely sure what to cut for it. Any suggestions? I'm thinking either a [[Dread Return]] or [[Mire Triton]].

Uhm, what you put in seems like the best way to go. There's a discussion to be had around whether [[Brainstorm]] alongside [[ash barrens]] and maybe [[Thought Scour]] is better than [[Preordain]], or whether [[Opt]] is better than Preordain in a prowess deck but it has been a bit too long since I played for me to give any valuable feedback on that.

[[Gitaxian Probe]] isn't legal.

Personally I'm a big fan of [[Thought Scour]] over [[Otherworldly Gaze]] and generally of a more cantrip focused build but this seems very well built. Real fan of the inclusion of Kamigawa cards too!

Shouldn't one [[Ensnaring Bridge]] be in the sideboard given the 4 copies of [[Karn, the Great Creator]]?

I cannot count the number of times I've tried to make [[Shambling Attendants]] work in pauper. I don't think it can be done. The result will always be either a worse version of Dimir control or a worse version of Rakdos / Mardu reanimator.

I absolutely adore how your deck names go from on-point descriptions of the archetypes to Anal Fister, Thotie Atraxa and my personal favorite, Pooper.

Never change!

No [[bordagan hellkite]]? These used to be the primary targets for [[Dragonstorm]] back in the day, they kill the opponent on entering the battlefield, much better than relying on attacks.

I love [[Keep Safe]] as a card, though I wonder how well this would do against something aggressive or combo-oriented that doesn't care about creatures that have between 3 and 7 power. [[Disrupting Shoal]] would work great here I think,.

The only story here is that I like big butts and I *cannot lie*.

IDK, I got a feeling it has more to do with the size of ass cheeks...

I wonder why that is xD

Really dig the inclusion of [[Dead // Gone]] as both another 1-drop for [[Expressive Iteration]] as well as a bounce effect to work with the 8 counterspells the deck runs.