It has a tiny bit less redundancy on getting a big creature in the graveyard, which is why it might need to skip on a Persist, but even if Priest of Fell Rites is only threatening to return Grief, thats still very good
Aside from being a human, which is a very relevant creature type in Commander, Modern and basically every other MTG format, Esper Sentinel is good because it reads: Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays X, where X is Esper Sentinels power. Its a bit like Rhystic Study, but the cost can be far higher if youve got things that make humans stronger or you can put +1/+1 counters onto Esper Sentinel
If we need to, we can use Torrential Gearhulk to flash back Glorious End to end our turn and make sure we don't die
Lu Xun, Scholar General plays with Equipment, or you could try to pair this with a Partner deck featuring Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist
This can easily get out of hand with little effort, and are amazing additions to most green decks