Honestly, anything around today is great. Even the super cheap cubes are better than the high end ones 4 years ago. But i would recommend going with something a little slower than things such as the valk or gans. It also depends largely on what feeling you think you'd enjoy, so i'd have to say get an MF3RS and then upgrade to one of the more premium cubes a little later on when you have a better grasp on what you'd want from the cube.
And yes look into lubricants! Recent advancements with lube have really opened alot of variety for styles, maybe a high viscosity lubricant would suit you best as a beginner, but those are the types of things you can easily mess around with.
I know this may not have really helped but the truth is that most cubes can get the job done, it just depends on you. I personally love a smooth, light feel with a good M, E and S slice, but i also prefer the cube to be cheap as i do alot of MBLD and need about 30 of them. So for me, as of recently, i use the MF3RS.
Hope this has atleast helped a little.
Alex,