4/5 stars. The rules are strong, but you need to remember what he can do with all those psychic powers knocking around.
Background.
Unique among his brothers for his unrivaled psychic potency and potential, it has long been held as truth that Magnus met his Father long before their physical encounter. Driven by a desire to not merely liberate humans from oppressors, but to literally bring light of reason to his conquests, it is this flaw and thirst for knowledge that would ultimately be his downfall. Of all his brothers, I feel that Magnus got the second most raw deal (behind Angron) and unlike almost all the traitors, his fall could well have been averted but he left the Emperor with little choice to make an example in an analogous way to the Word Bearers. Did he do wrong? Yeah. He did. But with the best of intentions. And thus the path was laid.
Strengths.
On the stat line, Magnus has 11 in Willpower as you might expect, along with WS=7 and 6's elsewhere which makes him slightly average in a fair fight. But he's not going to fight fair.
You can upgrade him to have 2 psychic disciplines from the main book (all are viable, but see my Psychic Powers review here). I suspect many players will default to Biomancy and Divination to make Magnus really offensive - he doesn't have to be though. In addition, he also has all of the Arcana from the legion rules. This gives massive flexibility of course - at the price of trying to learn and know which powers do what and when to play which of them!
Battle of Wills as the gambit is okay - you gain a bonus to focus equal to the differential between your willpowers. Magnus will always come out on top here, but the question is by how much.
Interestingly, Prime Upgrade bonuses for Sire of the Thousand Sons are for unit with arcana which makes this much easier to fill than many other legions (generally). Until the end of turn 1, they also roll 3 die for manifestation checks and select any 2 of them. This gives your whole army a strong turn 1 boost - especially for positioning if you need it.
The blade of Ahn-nunurta gives you access to AP=2 at S+1. He's not winning combat without psychic powers against his brothers in all honesty. The psyfire serpenta is actually a really nice AP=2 side arm that you shouldn't underestimate (or forget to shoot).
Weaknesses.
The points cost is high, but Magnus can do lots of things in third edition. You just have to choose what and remember all of those powers that he potentially has access to in order to optimize him each game turn. He will lose to most of his brothers in a fair fight, so you will need to psychically boost him to have a chance. You do have access to Shrouded innately at 6+ which will help him survive as well.
Overall.
Good overall, expensive, and very flexible with the added boon of being a real army wide enhancer on the first turn. Build him how you like, and take on whatever role you want. Presumably very front footed and attacking. You will have a good time, but not necessarily win all the time.
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