Among the early previews for Streets of New Capenna is a new common land called Maestros Theater. At first glance, it reminded me of the nearly eponymous Evolving Wilds, a common land that harkens back to Rise of the Eldrazi. But a closer look suggests it is a less powerful card.

Unlike Evolving Wilds, Maestros Theater does not let you decide when to crack it. Its ETB dictates that for you. It also limits you to a basic Island, Swamp, or Mountain rather than any basic land. On the flip side, it does gain you 1 life, something that Evolving Wilds does not.

Given the choice, I will nearly always choose Evolving Wilds (which has never been a great card anyways) over this new card. It looks to me like this card is only good for drafts and sealed events where you might need some mana fixing. The ability to choose when to sacrifice the land is worth more than the additional life point. That control can allow me to react to the lands being played by my opponent by choosing a colour in response to what they have.

Aside from slotting into a Grixis deck as a budget land, this could also make its way into a Landfall deck perhaps alongside an Evolving Wilds.

I wonder if we will see a cycle of these to help players with their three coloured decks (remember that the New Capenna families are all built around three colours).

Update (04/25/2022): It does turn out that Maestros Theater is part of a cycle. With the full reveal, it is now joined by cards such as Brokers Hideout, Cabaretti Courtyard, Obscura Storefront and Riveteers Overlook.