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As Tzeentch is the master of cunning, well thought out plots, and general subtle sneakiness, how does Magnus (or the entirety of the rubricae) fit into his role at all?

I was recently looking into the fluff of the Tsons the other day as I love the model scheme for them, and what struck me was, ignoring for the moment the "magic" aspect, just how little they fit into Tzeentch's whole shtick. The rubrics are mindless, and incapable of hope or plans or magic for that matter, so they're kind of fail in the whole scheme of things. The sorcerors leading them, particularly magnus, seem pretty anti-Tzeentch in their actions as well.

In fact, everything that happens to them is a direct result of a complete and utter lack of planning ahead. "Uh oh, heresy, let's use heretical magic to tell the emperor about it, then he'll know we're loyal. Oops, he's sending the space wolves to kill us, shoulda seen that coming."

"Uh oh. Mutations, let's use a spell to stop mutations on the whole chapter without any sort of testing at all. Well, that backfired."

Then Magnus steps in "My head mage's lack of foreplanning led to the dustification of my chapter. I'm gonna smash him like the hulk!" And Tzeentch has to personally smack him on the back of the head and remind him that just maybe the head chapter Mage might come in handy as a pawn later.

Later on, presumably after magnus cools down a bit, he learns of the space wolves trying to make some pure gene seed thing. What's a master of deception and servant of the god of sneakiness and mutation to do? Steal the thing? Psychic bomb the facility? Politely ask daddy to slyly put a mutation in there to further damage the wolves standing in the imperium? Naw. We're all going to charge and I'm personally going to try and punch every space wolf.

And then, after the battle's over, what does the chosen of the god of hope do? Gve up. Mope in his tower.

Why does Tzeentch stick with these guys? Why not find a couple dark eldar and offer to protect them from Slaanesh if they'll use magic and dress in rainbow colors? Their fluff sounds much more Tzeenchy, redirecting ork waaghs, stealing disease cures, intrigue and ambition and mind over might.

That said, I'm still probably gonna paint up some thousand sons. They're still dope models.

There's a saying allong the lines of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

That's how Tz got the Sons basically. Magnus is a loyal follower of the Big E. The bad guy is Arihman. But then again, who would not be a bad guy after being stuck for 10.000 years in the Eye of Terror on a stupid motive (they wanted to warn Terra of the Heresy...).

Right but Tzeentch can't do anything with them. He can't change them, they're mopey and without hope, and 90% or more can't even plot. Why not relegate them to "well they're a card I can play if I really need me some AP3 bolters" instead of his main non-daemon weapon?

Tzeentch is not the god of planning ahead, or at least, not in the way you would think. He is the god of change, chaos, ambition, and hope. Planning ahead is only Tzeentchian when it is used to change the established order, which is exactly what Tzeentch plans continuously for. In fact, Tzeentch loves it when things don't go exactly as planned, which is why many of his plots contradict and undermine each other. As long as things are shifting and chaotic, he's fine. Just look at how he is the Chaos God who gives the most random mutations, screwing around with his followers' dreams and goals instead of just giving them what would serve them best; if he did that, he would no longer be the Changer of Ways, would he?

Tzeentch sorcerers fit his philosophy perfectly. They use magic to change reality itself, something the Chaos God doubtlessly approves of. They seek power at any cost, constantly betraying or making alliances, overturning the established pecking order. And the last, very important part is that sorcery gives Tzeentch a direct way to screw around with his followers, promoting them to greatness one moment and then having them grow five extra heads the next.

The rubric marines are not supposed to represent Tzeentch in form so much as in history. Their origin is perfectly Tzeentchian; Magus makes a deal with the devil, so the Thousand Sons begin suffering horrible side effects. Ahriman decides to save the Thousand Sons from mutation and ends up inadvertently dooming each non-sorcerer marine in the legion. Unexpected consequences are what Tzeentch revels in. As for their current form, they're really just pawns to more Tzeentchian followers, a constant reminder of what happens when you trust things to go as planned.

Tzeentch sticks by the Thousand Sons primarily because the sorcerers' constant backbiting and plotting makes them great tools of Tzeentch's will. You've got guys like Ahriman spending their entire lives searching for forbidden knowledge just so that they can gain more power to make more change. Plus, MAGICKS!

Kind of have to agree with you. The exception being that Tzeentch is a total bastard of a god so that could explain why he keeps Magnus and his dustbins around.
To be a pure kneebiter.

Also, Magnus no longer leads the Tsons.

He sits on his daemon world examining the endless possiblities of a changing future.

Tzeentch is the God of all scheming, it doesn't matter what type of scheming it is, or what its purpose is. So I'd argue that the notion that he's only the God of schemes with a specific intention to change things is false.

Magnus and then Ahriman had the gall to go toe-to-toe with Tzeentch. The result was that most of the Thousand Sons got turned into walking dustbins. What do mindless automatons have to do with Tzeentch? Just another reminder that even the Astartes are but pawns in the Great Game.