EddyG17 said:
Financial is my personal favorite followed by creative. This to make a POWERFULL combo. sadly, the only civ that has such combo is Russia and Catherine the great. Both her starting techs suck.
Russia's techs give them unmatched early versatility

. Having Hunting and Mining allows them to research 4 second-teir techs right off the bat, something that only 5 other civs can match: Germany, India, the Incas, and Spain with 4, and the Aztecs with 5. However, all of those except Germany start with Mysticism, not giving them a whole lot of versatility in those immediate second-tier techs.
The Russians (and Germans), however, can research Archery, Animal Husbandry, Masonry, and Bronze Working right off the bat. Each of these techs give very different advantages, meaning that Russia and Germany are literraly just 2 techs from virtually any concievable opening strategy. There is
nobody who can instantly tailor their research to the exact situation the way the Russians and Germans can

.
Edit: just for clarity, I say "and Germans" because they have the same starting techs as Russia.