Gaining life, by itself, does nothing
If something looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and feels like a duck, its probably a duck
The only other really good options that synergizes with Elesh NornElesh Norn are "return a permanent" creatures, like Kor SkyfisherKor Skyfisher and Emancipation AngelEmancipation Angel, along with maybe the best effect, Cloudstone CurioCloudstone Curio, which would allow you to return two lands to your hand for every land you get down on the board
Collector Boosters Flashy cards
One of the strongest Sultai cards, the biggest reason Muldrotha isnt a true cEDH commander is that it doesnt contribute much to most combos by itself and has a prohibitively high mana cost in that environment