Sure, Populate was fine in Standard - this article from 2013 is a nice snapshot of the kinds of things I was doing with Voice of Resurgence at the time, and Ryan did a lot of work with the build
9 Blex, Vexing Pest For Blex A unique commander in a number of ways, Strixhavens unofficial mascot is a true champion of the downtrodden, serving as a lord not just for Insects, but also Pests, Bats, Snakes, and Spiders too
Furthermore, this Liliana serves as a good way to pressure opponents with life loss thanks to her +1 loyalty ability
This is one of those themes that actually started out pretty handily in three colors and has persisted pretty uniformly
I have never been a fan of their more casual nature, reliance on heavily monetised systems, and stripped back and dumbed down gameplay
Threshold Put a 2/2 flying NAME creature token into play if you have ten or more cards in your graveyard