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Apologies for coming in with a question after skipping 7.5 pages of the middle of this thread, but does anyone else feel that illusion spells are especially under-represented in this writeup? I know that the focus of these thought experiments is mostly on maximizing damage output and other concrete measures of effectiveness, but I still feel like the Image tree of spells is even better for the Magus than it is for most other casters.
Why? Because he can cast them for defense that may (ostensibly) be even better lines of defense than things like Mirror Image.
When faced with a particularly scary big-bad, the Magus can use Spell Combat to do his delicious bursty damage (even better if he prepped Shocking Grasp or some other touch spell the round before), and then at the end of the round cast Silent Image to summon a stone wall between himself and the enemy, or Minor Image to have the earth erupt as a column rises from the ground, carrying the (illusory) Magus 30 feet into the air, or Major Image to transform himself into a towering Balor.
Now the big-bad you're up against has to at least spend a move action to even recognize the illusion for what it is, and if he doesn't (or doesn't succeed), you are effectively protected from attack. If he does, he can take a standard action, but that's all. Furthermore, if he fails to recognize the illusion for what it is, he's more likely to do something to provoke an AoO, which the Magus can capitalize on at his discretion.
Sure, the image will end shortly after you stop concentrating on it during your next round, but near-total protection for a round can be a life saver in the right situation, and with a spell like Major Image, who's to say you couldn't creatively come up with a way to continue to benefit from the spell for a full 4 rounds if your enemy fails his saves?
Combine this tactic with the typical buff spells (Mirror Image, Displacement, Shield, etc) or even better, with one debuff (Slow) and you have got a Magus that is almost never going to get hurt if he's smart about it--while still dishing some explosive damage more often than not.
Am I off my rocker, here? I guess if nothing else I see this as being a lot more fun to play than a Magus that casts the same 3-4 spells every fight and just tries to dish damage as much as possible.