So far as I know we still have if ... elsif ... else. Personally I would not even think of using a for loop in this way, which means I learnt something. I'm all for trying different code tricks, some are dire and should be destroyed at birth, but some bring enlightenment.
I'm not sure that the code is any harder to read than some of the attempts at switch/case using LABELS (as in the Perl Cookbook). I agree with your sentiment though, and grateful that we have been blessed with given/when.