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I wouldn't say the nerf is directed at Kensai. I'm pretty sure every magus feels the pain. The ACG is just now a nearly pointless book for Magi (though experimenting with the archetype in there has led to some interesting things. Optimal? Haven't decided yet O.o).
Kensai had, and will continue to have good damage dealing capabilities, not to mention the adaptability of a half casting class. 4 level of unchained rogue still gets you dex to damage (not really an option I know), or you can also get the agile weapon property.
It's good to know that there is a trade-off between strength and dexterity, with dexterity bringing survivability in terms of initiative and AC, while strength offers survivability in terms of extra feats or more offensive capabilities. I like having to make hard choices, making characters without it would be "meh". Though there certainly seems to be a lot of no brainer options still.
Honestly though, I hate dervish dance and fencing grace. It's really lame that Paizo deems certain weapons to have that combat style and prevents others from doing so.
I wouldn't say the nerf is directed at Kensai. I'm pretty sure every magus feels the pain.
Kensai gets hit the hardest by far by this stuff, though.
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If I could find the build I used, I'd love to show it to you, though I'm not sure I back'ed it up (my laptop is.. well, "mostly dead", and I used instead of paper/pencil in those days). However it did involve a two level dip into titan mauler barbarian, so spell combat wasn't impossible.
However, this is actually a topic I introduce in my upcoming guide.
"It’s important to understand the impact of not using Spell Combat before browsing the various builds. Spell Combat is essentially Two-Weapon Fighting. You get a spell, and your normal weapon strikes. Spell Strike is essentially Improved Two-Weapon Fighting. You get a spell, your normal weapon strikes, and another weapon strike to deliver your touch attack spell. Any build that doesn’t use Spell Combat misses out on something comparable to two amazing free feats."
If you have what I'm going to call a "standard" adventuring day of 4 combats, each lasting around 4 rounds, early on you won't notice it too much. You already have too few spells to cast one each round. However, starting around levels 7 and 8 (in my experience), you start having enough spell slots to fully utilize spell combat, and by level 11-12 you have quite a bit of room for pre-buffing and out of combat utility spells.
By removing spell combat entirely from the picture, you'll end up converting all, or nearly all of your spells into buffs or utility spells. Your mid combat utility will suffer, as well as your DPR. It's not optimal, but it can be done.
Sometimes, your able to have spell combat off to the side. For example, a sword and board build is possible (without skirnir). Just grab quickdraw, and a quickdraw shield. Then, plow away as usual: when you want to cast a spell, quickly put away your shield, cast, do your full round action, and then at the end of your turn draw your shield again. This is similar to my polearm barbarian build I mentioned, though instead of putting away a shield I simply took one hand off of the weapon.
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Sure, I played one that used a fauchard for the 18-20 in a reach weapon. Now, I couldn't use spell combat and use the fauchard at the same time, so it used the feel of a traditional gish (buff'n fight), but it was pretty fun to cast frostbite and live off of it for a turn or two.This brings to mind another query: how much is a magus shooting themselves in the kneecap by using a two-hander (and thus not being able to use spell combat), because I have oft wanted to make a spear/polearm/whathaveyou using gish modeled after Volga in Hyrule Warriors, and aside from that persnickety one-handed restriction for spell combat, magus seems like a good candidate.
You can play a Mindblade.
The Estoc from the Melee Tactics Toolbox (or the SRD) is a good weapon choice that the guide doesn't list: it's a 1h exotic weapon that does 2d4 damage with an 18-20 threat range and can be finessed.
This brings to mind another query: how much is a magus shooting themselves in the kneecap by using a two-hander (and thus not being able to use spell combat), because I have oft wanted to make a spear/polearm/whathaveyou using gish modeled after Volga in Hyrule Warriors, and aside from that persnickety one-handed restriction for spell combat, magus seems like a good candidate.
If the main goal is to have reach as opposed to the style you could use a whip. You know, in case you missed having to use a bunch of feats to get basic functionality working now that dex-to-damage has been nuked.
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The Estoc from the Melee Tactics Toolbox (or the SRD) is a good weapon choice that the guide doesn't list: it's a 1h exotic weapon that does 2d4 damage with an 18-20 threat range and can be finessed.
Thanks for listing that, I'll include it in the upcoming Magus Guide. I don't search the SRD for options, just the PRD, since that is what I use in the games I DM.
Your feats are fine although you should make sure you take magical lineage (shocking grasp). Honestly your stats are fine, the only suggestion I might make is if you are doing a dex focused build then perhaps switching your 16 in strength to wisdom would make sense. That would give you a better will save and increase a few very important skills such as perception. Your feat selection is perfectly fine and I would not change it. Good luck :)
If you know that you will be gaining a mount in the future it is probably wise to at least put a few ranks into ride. You can use it as a mount and a combat partner honestly, it is always nice to have a way to travel and they are decent combatants but take care as they are very fragile.