I think you're right about the damage reflecting...been playing this deck more and I end up with too much of it in my hand. Manabarbs does sound like a good addition, thought it will most definitely get me hated on in multiplayer, but that's not always a bad thing. Thanks for the suggestion.

Volcano Hellion can seriously win games...

Dualcaster Mage for some tasty damage and actual value out of those janky red board wipes

I was thinking about putting him in...but I already have a bunch of copy/redirect spells and thought it would be better to have an instant rather than something that can hurt me if I have Repercussion in play.

oh yeah, Balefire Liege is also sorta a thing

Balefire Liege is definitely a thing. I do like the ability, though it would be better if it was "may" deal damage to target player. Sometimes it doesn't pay to make yourself a target when you're just trying to play a creature.

I have a deck similar to this; feel free to check it out.

Interesting deck. Looks like you revamped it a bit to make it white. On another note...taken out a few of the x-damage cards and dropped a few more creatures in here. Also added a few more counterspells like Illumination. This deck tends to out counter a lot of blue decks...and get some surprising use out of Mana Tithe.

What about Stigma Lasher to prevent life-gain decks from going nutso?

That would definitely kill any life-gain decks, but thankfully in our playgroup I hardly anyone uses life-gain as a theme. I'll keep that in the maybeboard in case something changes though. Thanks for the suggestion.

So this deck has been performing well, but every now and again the mana curve tanks and I get stuck not being able to cast the spells I need to. What else can I add to the deck to provide a more consistent amount of land? I figured I had enough ramp in here, but it still seems to be lacking at times. Any ideas?

I would add a little more rocks

Chromatic Lantern, Darksteel Ingot, Boros Keyrune, Boros Signet, Boros Cluestone, Commander's Sphere? Which ones do you think are best?

Smoke, Glacial Chasm, Ankh of Mishra, Ward of Bones, Burning Sands and a lot of stuff that taxes your opponents to enable the Gisela stax package :D. There is another card like Mana Barbs which deals damage for nonebasics... Simply take put creatures and lean back as long as you can make sure to get less damage out of everything than your opponents...

I meant *take out some creatures. It is a quite fun approach for you to run the deck like this :D. Best combination is Gisela +anyone playing nekusar

Very interesting concept. One of the iterations of this deck has less creatures, but if I miss some land drops or don't get the right amount of ramp I get left very defenseless. I'll keep this in mind if I find the control concept of the deck isn't panning out well, and I do miss running Ward of Bones. Man that card causes some strife for your opponents.

I had the time to grab my deck so that I can name you the cards just in case that you want to try to go a more stax-like approach: Viashino Heretic, Dwarven Miner, Price of Glory, Blinding Angel, Burning Earth, Defense Grid, Soltari Visionary is amazing with the swords, Angel of Jubilation, War's Toll, Angelic Arbiter, Crawlspace.... Just make sure you can protect gisela :D. You could also try Winter Orb if you have enough artifact ramp ...

I see where you're going with all this. What do you use in your deck as ramp? A lot of these spells are a little high in cmc.

Darksteel Ingot, Urza's Incubator, Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo, Sol Ring, Worn Powerstone, Pearl Medallion, Druidic Satchel + Sensei's Divining Top, Weathered Wayfarer to assure the best land drops... But also politics (fails often). For card draw I use Mind's Eye, Wheel of Fate and Wheel of Fortune

Interesting. I'll keep this in mind if I decide to ditch the control aspect of the deck, but that may take all the fun out of it. There's nothing more satisfying than counterspelling something with this deck and watching their well thought out plan crumble. I can't tell you how many Genesis Waves I've countered with Mana Tithe

So the additions to the deck have helped out quite a bit. In a six player game I was able to take out 3 opponents, and only lost to a Deadeye Navigator + Palinchron combo. Pretty happy with the way it's turned out, and the control aspect always catches people off guard.

Breath of Life can be useful, too. Good to hear that the additions helped strengthen the deck :)

Yeah, the deck does run into some issues with recursion...I think I may put Sword of Light and Shadow back in since I'm able to get equipment fairly easily, sorceries not so much...

The swords ate amazing with Whispersilk Cloak or Soltari Visionary

So far this deck has been playing out very well. Adding in more counterspells and equipment has proven to be a good move.