Just a quick thought/question
Just on basic couterspelling, i.e. not the reflection arcana
Can a Magus use Spell Combat to attack and setup for counterspelling
if that works the Magus can now be a good counterspeller who can always be ready to counterspell without sacrifcing his actions to do so since he can still attack normally.
turns the Magus from melee blaster into melee spell lockdown, as he can techincally contribute to the fight and nulify enemy casting at the same time.
Thoughts ?
No, to counterspell you set a Readied action (assign a standard action on your turn). Spell Combat is a Full-Round action. That is one of the reasons the Magus has Reflection as an Arcana, as an Immediate Action counterspell if needed.
However I think that will be one of the *tricks* to playing a Magus is knowing when and where your casting is best spent. Do you pump it all into combat blasts and buffs? Do you stand off and artillery/control? Or you hold out and knock down lower level spells of an enemy caster?
In terms of counterspelling a Magus could both Ready an action to counterspell and still use Reflection in the same turn. In a fight against multiple weaker *mook* casters a Magus could essentially lock out two foes in a single turn.