The black fetchlands all could threaten to find a Godless Shrine out of nowhere, and the information edge is surely worth more than the tiny Pithing Needle equity, or whatever
Every Aura on the table means more life for you and less life for your opponent
And he's a great equipment tutor to get you anything you need
Still, James logged significant playing time for an FBS college football program
In practice, it isnt that hard to play them both together because you can usually find a third colored source to get it onto the battlefield, or enough pips early to use Nykthos for three colored mana, or else its just powerful enough with the three extra pips to be worth that minor inconvenience
Renew Renew only works from the graveyard, and can only be done at sorcery speed but is nice as it gives your dead creatures something to do