Welcome, fellow achievement hunter.

Ever since the introduction of the rewards track, each expansion has always brought us a handful of achievements to complete in order to gain more rewards: while some of them are relatively easy to complete, some others may take some time or a proper set up. In case you're wondering what's the best way to gain all that sweet sweet XP locked behind Murder at Castle Nathria's achievements, do not fret, as we have the answer you're looking for!

In this guide we'll focus our attention on the Castle Nathria Shaman achievements and provide at least one way to complete each of them so that you'll be able to get closer to the end of your reward track.

Disclaimer: as always, all expansion achievements can be completed in Ranked Standard, Ranked Wild, Arena, Casual & Heroic Duels and Classic - Casual Standard, Casual Wild and Tavern Brawl will not count towards your hunt! Moreover, we'll always take Ranked Standard as the default game format for our strategies: if we happen to have some strategies or particular interactions belonging to other modes to highlight, we'll be sure to specify it.

Here are all the achievements we're going to complete together:

1. If a Totem Falls in the Woods... - Control a board full of Totems.
2. Off the Deep End - Transform 50/100/150 friendly minions with Muck Pools.
3. Sea of Thieves - Summon 50 minions with the effect of Baroness Vashj.
4. Holding Those For a Friend - Overload your opponent for 20/40 Mana with Framester.

Castle Nathria Shaman Achievements Overview

Shaman has one of the easiest achievement sets of the Murder at Castle Nathria expansion:

• If a Totem Falls in the Woods... is very, very easy to complete in both Standard and Wild.
• Off the Deep End asks you to play the cheapest (and one of the most viable) Location from the new expansion.
• Primordial Soup is locked behind a Legendary card, but if you own it you won't have trouble completing it.

Edit: guide updated with the achievement from the Maw and Disorder Mini-Set.

How to Complete the "If a Totem Falls in the Woods..." Shaman Achievement

• Requirement: Control a board full of Totems.
• Speed Rating: 5/5.
• XP Points Rewarded: 200 XP
• Related Achievements: none.

Disclaimer: based on our experience, controlling a board full of Totems isn't enough for you to complete If a Totem Falls in the Woods - you actually need to end your turn in order to trigger the achievement.

There are plenty of ways for you to complete this achievement, both in Standard and Wild. Starting with the former, the cornerstone of our strategy is obviously going to be Party Favor Totem: its Infused form will spawn two basic Totems, so we'll need two of these units plus the 7th Totem, which can come from either your Hero Power, Carving Chisel or in the form of Amalgam of the Deep/Gigantotem/Sinstone Totem.

If a Totem Falls in the Woods... - Shaman Castle Nathria Achievement

Standard · Totem Shaman · by Avalon · 3 years, 7 months ago

• 1 Muck Pools x 2
• 1 Schooling x 2
• 1 Sinstone Totem x 2
• 1 Windchill x 2
• 2 Amalgam of the Deep x 2
• 2 Anchored Totem x 2
• 2 Carving Chisel x 2
• 2 Flametongue Totem x 2
• 2 Sleetbreaker x 2
• 3 Brilliant Macaw x 2
• 3 Far Sight x 2
• 3 Mana Tide Totem x 2
• 3 Party Favor Totem x 2
• 4 Dispossessed Soul x 2
• 10 Gigantotem x 2

2,880 Dust 596 0 Copy Deck Code

Regarding Wild, Even Shaman is the fastest way to get the job done.

If a Totem Falls in the Woods... - Shaman Castle Nathria Achievement

Standard · Totem Shaman · by Avalon · 3 years, 7 months ago

• 0 Lightning Bloom x 2
• 0 Totemic Might x 2
• 2 Amalgam of the Deep x 2
• 2 Ancestral Knowledge x 2
• 2 Anchored Totem x 2
• 2 Bloodmage Thalnos x 1
• 2 Cagematch Custodian x 2
• 2 Carving Chisel x 2
• 2 EVIL Totem x 2
• 2 Novice Engineer x 2
• 2 Prize Vendor x 2
• 2 Sleetbreaker x 2
• 4 Splitting Axe x 2
• 6 Genn Greymane x 1
• 6 Runic Carvings x 2
• 10 Gigantotem x 2

5,560 Dust 706 0 Copy Deck Code

• Keep spamming your discounted Hero Power.
• Use Totemic Might to make your Totems less susceptible to removal.
• When you control 4 or more Totems, use Splitting Axe to complete the achievement.
• Cagematch Custodian is an Elemental, but it tutors Carving Chisel, which is very good for this achievement.
• Runic Carvings' Treant Totem are Treants, but Totems too (who would've guessed it!).

How to Complete the "Off the Deep End" Shaman Achievement

• Requirement: Transform 50/100/150 friendly minions with Muck Pools.
• Speed Rating: 2/5.
• XP Points Rewarded: 100, 100 and 500 XP
• Related Achievements:
  
  • Shaman's Primordial Soup
  • Neutral's Gone but Not Forgotten
  • Neutral's Location, Location, Location!
  • Neutral's Need a Map?
  • Neutral's Stop! Infuse Time!
  • Neutral's Long Live the King

Off the Deep End is easier than Rogue's Tales from the Crypt because Muck Pools requires less setup to be good and has higher chances to grant immediate impact on the board.

The decklist you see below is filled with many Castle Nathria Neutral cards, whose respective achievements can be completed while working towards Off the Deep End.

Off the Deep End - Shaman Castle Nathria Achievement

Standard · Evolve Shaman · by Avalon · 3 years, 7 months ago

• 1 Convincing Disguise x 2
• 1 Muck Pools x 2
• 1 Schooling x 2
• 1 Windchill x 2
• 2 Auctionhouse Gavel x 2
• 2 Maze Guide x 2
• 2 Sleetbreaker x 2
• 3 Brilliant Macaw x 2
• 3 Primal Dungeoneer x 2
• 4 Baroness Vashj x 1
• 4 Crud Caretaker x 2
• 4 Dispossessed Soul x 2
• 5 Command of Neptulon x 2
• 5 Famished Fool x 2
• 10 Goldshire Gnoll x 2
• 10 Sire Denathrius x 1

5,400 Dust 728 0 Copy Deck Code

• Although you're achievement hunting and you should not particularly care about winning or losing games, try to use Muck Pools on high-cost and low-stats units like Famished Fool, Goldshire Gnoll (which has a chance to turn into Sire Denathrius or Stoneborn General, giving you progress for the Neutral Long Live the King and Stone Legion, Assemble! achievements) and Primal Dungeoneer.
• Competitively speaking, turn 1 Muck Pools into turn 2 Maze Guide is a cute curve.
• Using Muck Pools on Baroness Vashj not only will progress Off the Deep End, but will work towards Primordial Soup as well!
  • For this exact reason we decided to include Convincing Disguise for extra Vashj procs; if you own it, you should include Primordial Wave too.

How to Complete the "Primordial Soup" Shaman Achievement

• Requirement: Summon 50 minions with the effect of Baroness Vashj.
• Speed Rating: 4/5.
• XP Points Rewarded: 200 XP
• Related Achievements: 
  
  • Shaman's Off the Deep End
  • Neutral's Stop! Infuse Time!

Although we suggest you to complete Primordial Soup while going for Off the Deep End, there's a way for you to grind this achievement alone. In this situation, we'll use a small Naga package, as well as some card draw and spell generation.

Primordial Soup - Shaman Castle Nathria Achievement

Standard · Evolve Shaman · by Avalon · 3 years, 7 months ago

• 1 Azsharan Scroll x 2
• 1 Convincing Disguise x 2
• 1 Muck Pools x 2
• 1 Scalding Geyser x 1
• 1 Schooling x 2
• 1 Windchill x 2
• 2 Amalgam of the Deep x 2
• 2 Auctionhouse Gavel x 2
• 2 Sleetbreaker x 2
• 3 Brann Bronzebeard x 1
• 3 Crushclaw Enforcer x 2
• 3 Far Sight x 2
• 3 Primal Dungeoneer x 2
• 3 Primordial Wave x 2
• 4 Baroness Vashj x 1
• 5 Famished Fool x 2
• 5 Queen Azshara x 1

6,600 Dust 692 0 Copy Deck Code

• Crushclaw Enforcer will draw either itself, Baroness Vashj, Amalgam of the Deep or Queen Azshara.
• Queen Azshara's Ring of Tides can turn into another Convincing Disguise or Primordial Wave, for multiple Baroness Vashj triggers during the same turn.
• Baroness Vashj is a Naga, so you can use Amalgam of the Deep to Discover additional copies of it.
  • If you do not own Vashj, this is a fairly acceptable method to complete Primordial Soup without spending your precious dust!

As for Wild, our user NebuchadnezzarHS came up with a rather efficient strategy, which is explained in detail in the deck's dedicated page - thanks for the contribution!

Primordial Soup

Wild · Evolve Shaman · by NebuchadnezzarHS · 3 years, 7 months ago

• 0 Lightning Bloom x 2
• 0 Mutate x 2
• 1 Convincing Disguise x 2
• 1 Evolve x 2
• 1 Investment Opportunity x 1
• 1 Muck Pools x 2
• 1 Revolve x 2
• 1 Unstable Evolution x 2
• 1 Windchill x 2
• 2 Cagematch Custodian x 1
• 2 Devolve x 2
• 2 Explosive Evolution x 2
• 3 Crushclaw Enforcer x 1
• 3 Primal Dungeoneer x 2
• 3 Primordial Wave x 2
• 4 Baroness Vashj x 1
• 5 Boggspine Knuckles x 1
• 5 Spirit of the Frog x 1

5,280 Dust 1,499 0 Copy Deck Code

How to Complete the "Holding Those For a Friend" Shaman Achievement

• Requirement: Overload your opponent for 20/40 Mana with Framester.
• Speed Rating: 2/5 in Standard and 3/5 in Wild
• XP Points Rewared: 200 and 200 XP
• Related Achievements:
  • Neutral's Sylvanas Did Nothing Wrong

One mistake I made when grinding Holding Those For a Friend is that I believed I needed to shuffle as many Framed as possible in my opponents' decks, only for them to draw just one or two and then kill me. After a few games, I realized that the fastest way to complete this achievement is shuffling the Framed spells very fast, so that your opponents will have higher chances to draw them.

Another notable aspect of this achievement is that it requires your opponent to draw only 20 Framed spells, which isn't a lot.

Holding Those For a Friend - Shaman Maw and Disorder Achievement

Standard · Unknown Shaman · by Avalon · 3 years, 5 months ago

• 1 Scalding Geyser x 2
• 1 Windchill x 2
• 2 Auctionhouse Gavel x 2
• 2 Bolner Hammerbeak x 1
• 2 Perpetual Flame x 2
• 2 Sleetbreaker x 2
• 3 Brann Bronzebeard x 1
• 3 Brilliant Macaw x 2
• 3 Far Sight x 2
• 3 Framester x 2
• 3 Lightning Storm x 2
• 3 Primal Dungeoneer x 2
• 3 Tidal Surge x 2
• 3 Zola the Gorgon x 1
• 5 Command of Neptulon x 2
• 5 Don't Stand in the Fire! x 2
• 6 Sylvanas, the Accused x 1

4,840 Dust 564 0 Copy Deck Code

If you do Wild, there are a few cards that will be veeery helpful.

Holding Those For a Friend - Shaman Maw and Disorder Achievement

Wild · Unknown Shaman · by Avalon · 3 years, 5 months ago

• 1 Scalding Geyser x 1
• 1 Windchill x 2
• 2 Auctionhouse Gavel x 2
• 2 Bolner Hammerbeak x 1
• 2 Perpetual Flame x 2
• 2 Prize Vendor x 2
• 2 Sleetbreaker x 2
• 3 Augmented Elekk x 2
• 3 Brann Bronzebeard x 1
• 3 Brilliant Macaw x 2
• 3 Coldlight Oracle x 2
• 3 Framester x 2
• 3 Lightning Storm x 2
• 3 Primal Dungeoneer x 2
• 3 Tidal Surge x 2
• 3 Zola the Gorgon x 1
• 5 Don't Stand in the Fire! x 2

4,080 Dust 604 0 Copy Deck Code

• Prize Vendor and Coldlight Oracle will make your opponents draw their cards faster.
• Augmented Elekk will shuffle more Framed spells.

Other Resources

In case you're still deep in your achievement hunt, worry not: we prepared a guide for each class (and neutrals!) for you to take inspiration from, so that you'll be able to complete them in no time for those sweet sweet XP points.

•  Demon Hunter
•  Druid
•  Hunter
•  Mage
•  Paladin
•  Priest
•  Rogue
•  Shaman
•  Warlock
•  Warrior
•  Neutral
•  Mini-Set

We have added an #achievements channel on our Discord server if you want to talk with others in real-time. If you need an assist, you can also respond to this guide and we'll do our best to help you out; the comments are also a great way to share your own decks that you've used to complete the achievements above.

Good luck tackling any of these achievements for your experience boost or just for the sake of satisfying completion!