Fireblast

Fireblast is the mage's basic Hero Power.

Strategy
While at first glance Fireblast may seem weak compared to some of the other Hero Powers, it in fact possesses many unique advantages. Its ability to directly target minions or heroes makes it extremely useful for picking off vulnerable yet valuable targets, hidden behind a wall of Taunts. It can also be used to conveniently destroy damaged yet powerful minions, or obstructive enemies such as Mirror Images, preventing damage next round or opening the way for your own minions to attack their preferred targets. Since Fireblast deals only a single point of damage, some strategy is needed to ensure that that point is applied where it is most effective.

Fireblast can be used to trigger taking damage-triggered effects such as Acolyte of Pain or Gurubashi Berserker, or Enrage effects, for just 1 damage, making minions with these properties useful for mages.

When the mage is left with at least 2 mana to spare at the end of the round, Fireblast can be a useful mana dump, even if all it accomplishes is dealing 1 damage to the opponent hero, or reducing a minion's health by 1.

Lore
This spell is likely based on Fire Blast, a mage spell from World of Warcraft. Fire Blast deals a quick burst of instant damage, useful for dealing uninterruptible burst damage while on the move.

Trivia

 * Using Fireblast on a target is often referred to as "pinging" it, reflecting the Hero Power's light damage.
 * The artwork for this card comes from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game "Assault on Icecrown Citadel" series, for the card Fireball.