Improved Soviet starter deck

Here is an improved version of the Soviet starter deck that you can build by adding some of the ally cards already collected during the USA training campaign while removing some of the cards that are weaker or don’t fit your deck strategy. In addition to this, further below are some tips on how to play the deck and improve it even further down the line. 

Cards to remove from the initial Soviet starter deck:

-2 FINAL PUSH 

-2 JUGGERNAUT 

-2 I-16 ISHAK 

-1 ARCTIC CONVOY 

-1 T-34 1942 

Cards to add for the improved Soviet starter deck:

+2 17th INFANTRY REGIMENT 

+2 30th REGIMENT 

+1 STARS & STRIPES 

+1 DEATH FROM ABOVE 

+2 WE CAN DO IT! 

Strategy

Battle plan

Your plan with this deck is to flood the board with weak, cheap infantry, give them additional attack and health with cards like THE ALLIANCE, UNITY IS STRENGTH and WE CAN DO IT! and overwhelm your opponent with this pure mass of units.

554th RIFLE REGIMENT, 321st RIFLE REGIMENT and RESERVES help you to get early pressure on the board. Followed up by an UNITY IS STRENGTH this can be an early nail in your opponent's coffin. 

But this deck also has a strong mid game. NO SURRENDER is a good way to refill your board with units. Paired with INDUSTRIAL MIGHT it is also one of the best draw engines in the game.

WE CAN DO IT! makes your units more resistant to strong area damage orders like CARPET BOMBING or DESPERATE MEASURES. Paired with THE ALLIANCE your weak infantry units transform into pure beasts.

Another key card in this deck is KATYUSHA. With its BLITZ ability and the possibility to give it additional stats with 17th INFANTRY REGIMENT or THE ALLIANCE it can be a big theat for your opponent.

(Pro tip: You can play BLOODY SICKLE on your own 10th GUARDS REGIMENT to give it +2 attack if needed.)

Mulligan (Starting hand selection)

You are looking for 554th RIFLE REGIMENT, RESERVES and 321st RIFLE REGIMENT to be in your starting hand. If don't have any of these in your hand at the first attempt, you should give away your whole hand to find them with the mulligan. If you have at least one of them, you should look for cards like UNITY IS STRENGTH, KATYUSHA and 4th KUBAN COSSACKS.

HOW TO IMPROVE THE DECK FURTHER

To improve this deck even further by using the early wildcards you get and cards from packs, you should collect full sets of 554th RIFLE REGIMENT, RESERVES, 321st RIFLE REGIMENT, NO SURRENDER, FRONTAL ASSAULT, INDUSTRIAL MIGHT, UNITY IS STRENGTH, THE ALLIANCE and WE CAN DO IT!.

2nd CALIFORNIA should crafted from early standard wildcards because it is super strong, especially when combined with UNITY IS STRENGTH.

Furthermore you should collect cards like 503rd MOTORS and URA! (both can be collected as reward from the Soviet Theaters of War campaign). Instead of URA! you could also use CLOSE COMBAT which is cheaper but does not synergize with KATYUSHA.

Another strong addition to the deck is DEEP OPERATION, giving you more cheap LIGHT INFRANTRY and giving them also Blitz.

Cards you want to get rid of while you replace them with the alternatives mentioned above: 13th RIFLE REGIMENT, 30th REGIMENT, DEATH FROM ABOVE, FROM THE PEOPLE, 10th GUARDS REGIMENT, T-34 1942, BURNING SKY 

If you have a soviet elite wildcard to spend you should go for 83rd NAVAL BRIGADE. It has great synergy with BLOODY SICKLE and KATYUSHA and is a great removal tool.

Try it out this good starting point and then put your own spin on it. Most importantly, have fun!