Image Comics is gearing up for the release of the second trade paperback collection of Undiscovered Country, the dystopian sci-fi series created by writers Scott Snyder and Chares Soule and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli. To celebrate, Image has been releasing a series of in-universe postcards depicting various American states in this twisted future universe. IGN can exclusively debut the fifth and final teaser in the set, featuring an eerily idyllic version of Mississippi. Check out the new image from Camuncoli below: For those who haven't been following Undiscovered Country, the series follows a group of scientists who become the first outsiders in 100 years to travel inside the borders of the United States. They aren't on any sightseeing vacation, however, but are searching for the key to ending a pandemic that could possibly wipe out humanity. What they find within the borders of the US is equal parts frightening and fascinating - a country that has not only walled itself off from the outside world, but also divided itself into 13 distinct zones. This image gives us our first glimpse of the zone known as Bounty, which is located in the American southeast. Clearly, the post-apocalyptic climate has been good to some farmers, but there's still a decidedly sinister tone to this image of a proud farmer showing off her enormous mutant crops. “One of the strange Zones from the new America we've teased in the series so far is a place called BOUNTY, which you might call the breadbasket of the Undiscovered Country. We haven't visited there yet, and probably won't for a while, but I imagine it has things like this," Soule told IGN. "While most of the postcards and teasers we've been creating for the book have an ominous tone to them, we wanted this one to feel a bit more wholesome... but there's something unsettling to it, as well. It sets the perfect tone." Soule added, "As we continue through the series, we'll visit many more of these Zones - we've seen two so far (DESTINY and UNITY), and we're about to move into POSSIBILITY. There are thirteen Zones in total, and by the end of the book, you'll have seen them all.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-21-most-anticipated-comics-of-2021&captions=true"] "I had so much fun drawing this scene, I wanted to give it a little sinister vibe à la 'American Gothic,' although the subject is very different," said Camuncoli. "This farmer is smiling before her giant vegetables, and in the world of Undiscovered Country this seems to be the New Abnormal, to quote The Strokes. As I was drawing this, I was wondering, 'How the hell did those vegetables end up there, and how are people gonna buy these and bring them home..?'—but that's another story." “We’re going to learn a lot more about Val and Ace in this story arc and readers will get a better understanding of why Aurora’s singled them out in particular," said Snyder, teasing what's to come in the series' third story arc. "But then again, we’re not going to just leave you hanging when it comes to Charlotte and Daniel. There was still a lot left unsaid about what their parents’ involvement was in all this.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/04/what-to-expect-from-marvel-in-2021"] If you want to see the other four images in this postcard series, click the links below:

• Postcard #1 - Alaska (Newsarama)
• Postcard #2 - Arizona (Multiversity Comics)
• Postcard #3 - Pennsylvania (CBR)
• Postcard #4 - Wisconsin (Adventures in Poor Taste)

In other comic book news, DC is finally making Beast Boy and Raven an official couple, and Marvel is introducing the first LGBTQ Captain America during Pride Month. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Update 05/14/2021: The Australian Classification Review Board has reversed the ban on Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, after developer ZA/UM formally challenged the decision. It seems the tipping point for the game's ban stemmed from Dico Elysium's depiction of drug use, and the temporary benefits it offers you character. However, as reported by Kotaku Australia, the Review Board (which is separate to the Classification Board that originally refused to classify the game) has specifically made clear that Disco Elysium's depiction of drug use is shown in an ultimately negative light, such that it can now receive an R 18+ classification. "In the Review Board’s opinion," reads the Review Board's report, "while drug use linked to incentives and rewards cannot be accommodated at R 18+, this game does provide disincentives related to drug-taking behaviour, to the point where regular drug use leads to negative consequences for the player’s progression in the game. It was, specifically, the disincentives for drug use that influenced the Review Board in making their decision. Drug use is not explicitly depicted within the game." The classification means that Disco Elysium: The Final Cut can now be sold in Australia without impediment, although the R 18+ rating means that only adults can puchase the game. Despite the refused classification, The Final Cut (and the original, unclassified version of Disco Elysium) was still available to buy on Steam in Australia while the game was technically banned. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/31/disco-elysium-the-final-cut-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Disco Elysium: The Final Cut has been refused classification in Australia. You can see the 'Refused Classification' page on the Australian Government's Classification Board website. According to the rating explanation page, a product will be refused classification if it "contains content that is very high in impact and falls outside generally-accepted community standards." The refused classification will mean that, without alterations, the game cannot be sold in Australia. More specifically, The Final Cut was refused classification as a game that has been seen to "depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/disco-elysium-final-cut-trailer"] Disco Elysium features alcohol and drug misuse, not to mention a plot that often centres on crime, cruelty, and violence along the way, which could explain why the game has been refused. This seemingly only affects the new version of the game, as the original PC version of Disco Elysium is still available on Steam in Australia, as it has been since its launch in 2019. Developer ZA/UM may have to edit the game's content if they want to get past the rating board in Australia. The news arrives as the PC, PS5, PS4 and Google Stadia launch of The Final Cut version of the game looms on March 30th. Disco Elysium was originally exclusive to PC, but developer ZA/UM announced a console version of the game during The Game Awards last year. The Final Cut adds voice acting and some bonus content and will be a free upgrade to users who own the game already on PC. A TV adaptation of the game is currently in the works at dj2 Entertainment. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

This story contains small spoilers for the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. [poilib element="accentDivider"] We knew that Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would feature Wyatt Russell as John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, but head writer Malcolm Spellman has explained that the MCU's take on the character is somewhat different from his comic book counterpart in order to make him a more natural possible successor to Captain America. The series will see Falcon attempting to live up to the legacy of Steve Rogers, having been handed the Captain America shield at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but it seems he'll have a rival in the form of Walker – and to make that feel believable, Spellman altered the more brash, troubled U.S. Agent of Marvel history. Speaking to IGN, Spellman explained, "We wanted John Walker to be worthy of being Captain America if we were going to give him the shield. You read the books, and he's an awesome character in the books, but you can't hand that guy the shield in the MCU. It wouldn't work – to make him Cap would be violating some kind of logic that is indescribable, but you know it's there." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/marvels-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier-is-the-antithesis-of-wandavision"] In the series, Spellman explains that John Walker will be a perhaps more relateable character: "So we started with the books, and as we saw that he was going to become Cap, we- I'm not going to say softened him, but we humanised him, and made him much more worthy. But he does have an intense journey, and he does have to earn it." Spellman ended with what seemed to be a tease as to the character's potential future: "And if he doesn't [earn it]... you know how Marvel is, you know what I'm saying?" We've only seen a glimpse of Walker's role in the series so far, and it will be interesting to see how the character ties into the show's six-episode arc. What's clear is that the show will be less of a mystery box than WandaVision, with Spellman saying that it will spark fewer fan theories than its MCU streaming predecessor. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 1 is out on Disney+ today - here's when every episode comes out. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

A professor has named three new species of beetles in Australia after the Pokemon franchise's legendary birds Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. According to the Eastern New Mexico University, Dr. Darren Pollock and Yun Hsiao collaborated on a paper to document the beetle discovery and describe the new species for an upcoming third edition of "Australian Beetles." The duo examined the specimens and decided to officially name them Binburrum articuno, Binburrum zapdos, and Binburrum moltres after the Pokemon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Pokemon fan and Ph.D. student Yun proposed the idea of naming the beetles after the legendary birds because he wanted the monikers to refer to the rareness of the species that only have a few specimens. Admittedly, the beetles aren't quite as brightly colored as their animated namesakes but they are described as being "distinct" as they do have a very slight color variation between them. [caption id="attachment_2488347" align="alignnone" width="720"] Image credit: Dr. Darren Pollock/Yun Hsiao.[/caption] Much like Pokemon's legendary birds, the trio of beetles can be easily identified from one another. Binburrum articuno (far left) has a silvery brown coloring across its body and wings, while Binburrum moltres (middle) has a very distinct two-tone coloring with a golden top-half and a black bottom-half, and the Binburrum zapdos (right) has black wings with a golden prothorax between its body and head. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/05/10-best-legendary-pokemon"] "Yun says that he was an aspiring Pokémon trainer when he was young, and so, because of the rarity of the specimens of the three new species, he suggested that we name them after the three Legendary bird Pokémon," Pollock explained. "I thought that this was a great idea, and so, the new species which were unveiled to the world in 2020 are Binburrum articuno, Binburrum moltres, and Binburrum zapdos." Pollock noted the importance of naming a species and choosing a name that has not been used before to differentiate between the specimens. He also indicated that more new species of the same genus have been discovered since the paper was published and that they may have referred back to their Pokedex of pocket monsters to assign even more Pokemon names to the insects. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/26/25-years-of-pokemon-celebration"] Significantly, this study has emerged in Pokemon's 25th Anniversary year, with celebrations expected to continue throughout the rest of 2021. The Pokemon Company has already shared some incredible news, including all-new game reveals and details for New Pokemon Snap. There's also been announcements for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and the open-world Pokemon Legends: Arceus. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

HBO is tripling down on Game of Thrones. The network has set up three new projects which would serve as prequels to its adaptation of George R.R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, as reported by Deadline and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter. One project has the working title 10,000 Ships. It follows Princess Nymeria, an ancestor of House Martell and founder of the kingdom of Dorne. The series is set a millennium before the events of Game of Thrones, marking an exploration of much older mythos than the Westeros timeline. Another project is set in Flea Bottom, the shady and labyrinthine slum district of King's Landing that was featured in the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. The final project is being developed by Rome creator Bruno Heller with the working title 9 Voyages. The series would follow Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as the Sea Snake and the head of the House of Velaryon. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/17/the-best-deaths-on-game-of-thrones"] Lord Corlys Velaryon is already set to appear in House of the Dragon, the first Game of Thrones spin-off that HBO has greenlit. The series will begin filming next month, with Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Paddy Considine and Matt Smith starring. It is set to premiere sometime in 2022. In addition, several other Game of Thrones spin-offs are already in the works. Another series is being adapted from Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas. The prequel series follows the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tail and Aegon V Targryen, 90 years prior to the events of HBO's show. An animated Game of Thrones series is also in early production at HBO Max. Meanwhile, George R.R. Martin hopes to finish The Winds of Winter by the end of this year. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=game-of-thrones-ranking-all-eight-seasons&captions=true"] It's worth keeping in mind that not all of these projects may come to fruition. HBO had filmed a pilot for an Age of Heroes prequel show starring Naomi Watts before deciding to not move forward with a series order. However, the volume of Game of Thrones content being worked on at HBO reflects the network's continued investment in maintaining the property's popularity since the original series aired its finale in 2019. For more Game of Thrones spin-off talk, read four spinoff ideas that we'd love to watch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

The streaming landscape continues to expand into the world of professional sports. Amazon Prime Video has reached a deal with the NFL, securing an exclusive national broadcast package to become the home for Thursday Night Football beginning in 2023. No broadcast TV partner is on board. NFL and Amazon reached a 10-year deal in which the streamer will broadcast 15 exclusive regular-season Thursday Night Football games as well as one pre-season game. Each game will also be available on free, over-the-air channels in participating teams' home marketplaces. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/26/madden-nfl-21-the-yard-15-minutes-of-gameplay"] Though the deal marks the NFL's first exclusive broadcasting deal with a streaming service, it is also an expansion of its current partnership with Amazon. Prime Video first distributed a Thursday Night Football simulcast during the 2017 season. In 2020, the two expanded their package to include one exclusive regular-season game per year. “NFL games are the most watched live programming in the United States, and this unprecedented Thursday Night Football package gives tens of millions of new and existing Prime members exclusive access to must-watch live football on Prime Video,” said Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ea-play-live-2020-madden-2021&captions=true"] The NFL also announced that Fox and CBS will maintain their Sunday afternoon packages, while NBC and ESPN will keep their primetime Sunday and Monday night TV franchises, with added streaming rights to Peacock and ESPN+ respectively. ABC has also been added to the rotation of networks broadcasting the Super Bowl. The channel will broadcast its first of two championships in 2026. The partnership represents yet another expansion for Amazon Prime Video as the streamer continues to increase its reach. Last month, Donald Glover reached a multi-year deal with the streamer to "spotlight Glover's work and other curated content." Last week, Amazon Prime Video reported that Coming 2 America, its sequel to the Eddie Murphy comedy classic, had the biggest streaming debut of any movie during the pandemic. In our review, IGN gave Madden NFL 21 a 6, saying that "Madden's lack of innovation has reached a tipping point."  [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

For Hearthstone players, this is hands-down the best time of year, as around this time the game sees a massive shakeup, with three (or so) sets of cards leaving and one new set coming in. For 2021, however, the Hearthstone Team is going way beyond that and also changing the very bedrock of the game. For those that don’t know, Hearthstone’s foundation for the past seven years has been the Basic and Classic sets – the cards that the game launched with. Not only has Hearthstone evolved significantly since then, but those cards were never designed for the specific purpose of being the game’s base, and some classes simply have better options in that original collection than others. No more. This year, those cards will be replaced by a new “Core set” of 235 cards, including 29 brand new designs (which you can see below) and many returning cards that have been reworked. This will effectively reinvent each class, as many of the cards that have been fundamental to their archetypes will no longer be in the Standard format. Not only will this help Hearthstone feel radically different in 2021, but in future years too, as the Core set will change annually, and giving the Hearthstone team a lot of latitude to shape the game based on what they have planned for each 12 month block. It’s a fantastic change, in other words, and the icing on the cake is that all players will have access to the full Core set at no cost, providing a solid baseline collection for even brand new players. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=hearthstone-core-set-new-cards-2021&captions=true"] Of course, the usual rotation rules also apply, which means we’re saying goodbye to the Year of the Dragon sets – Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, Descent of Dragons and the mini-set Galakrond’s Awakening. And coming in, we have the Year of the Gryphon and its first set Forged in the Barrens, a Horde-themed expansion that introduces 135 new cards and several new mechanics. These include spells that rank up depending on how much mana you have available, and the new keyword Frenzy, which is a one-time effect that triggers the first time a minion survives damage. As I said, it’s a great time of year, and today IGN can add to the excitement by revealing a brand new Mage legendary minion from Forged in the Barrens, Varden Dawngrasp: [caption id="attachment_2488654" align="alignnone" width="972"] Frost Nova meets old school Flamestrike on a minion![/caption] Not only does Varden Dawngrasp have a pretty compelling ability, but they’re also significant in a couple of other ways. Dawngrasp is Hearthstone’s first openly non-binary character, for one, and secondly, this character is one of the ten mercenaries that will anchor Hearthstone’s new year-long narrative and tie into the game’s upcoming Mercenaries mode. But the most crucial question for when the Year of the Gryphon kicks off is – how powerful is Varden Dawngrasp likely to be? Well, at the very least it’s like playing a Frost Nova with a 3/3 minion attached for four mana, which seems reasonable, provided stalling for a turn fits into your game plan. If you’re playing a controlling Mage, for instance - perhaps working towards a new win condition like Mordresh Fire Eye and utilising cards like Reckless Apprentice, Fallen Hero and Coldarra Drake - then cards that help you get to the late game like Varden Dawngrasp are likely to be very valuable. [caption id="attachment_2488656" align="alignnone" width="1408"] Mordresh is extremely slow, but also extremely cool.[/caption] And then it also has a big upside of – potentially – functioning as a board clear if you can freeze the opponent’s minions first. Of course, that won’t be as simple as it would have been before the Core set. Cards like Frost Nova, Frostbolt and Blizzard, for instance, are all going to be out of the Standard format. So too will Ray of Frost, from Rise of Shadows. In terms of Frost cards that will be in the Core set, Snap Freeze and Cone of Cold will both pair extremely well with Varden Dawngrasp, and indeed, will be cards you’re more likely to want to play in general – both have been buffed as part of the sweeping changes the Hearthstone team are making to many of the existing cards to bring them into line with the power level of modern day Hearthstone. (Cone of Cold has gone from four cost to three, while Snap Freeze has changed from two mana to one.) Beyond those two, we don’t know quite how much freeze support will be printed in Forged in the Barrens, but we have seen one card that very much synergises with Varden Dawngrasp - Flurry. This zero cost spell can freeze a random enemy minion in the early game, but ranks up as the game progresses, freezing two once the player reaches five mana and then three once ten mana is available. Obviously the random nature of Flurry’s freeze means you won’t necessarily be able to specifically target the exact minions you want to remove using Varden Dawngrasp, but even so, anything that Flurry freezes will take four damage and then anything else will be frozen. Neat. [caption id="attachment_2488655" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Zero mana spells are always worth paying attention to.[/caption] The Year of the Gryphon kicks off on March 30th (March 31st in ANZ) but it’s worth quickly pointing out that some very cool changes will be live before then. Hearthstone will be patched with all the new content and changes ahead of the March 30/31 date, and while things like the shift to the Core set and the release of Forged in the Barrens will obviously wait, Classic mode – which is a snapshot of Hearthstone exactly as it was in June 2014 – will go live, as will a wide array of reverts to cards that have been nerfed over the years, such as Call to Arms, The Caverns Below, Starving Buzzard, Conjurer’s Calling, Flametongue Totem, Undertaker and Knife Juggler. There are so so many. Wild format is going to be insane. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/19/hearthstone-forged-in-the-barrens-reveal-trailer"] All in all, this year in Hearthstone is shaping up to be pretty special. If you’re interested in getting a start on your Forged in the Barrens collection, pre-purchase bundles are available right now. See you in the tavern! [poilib element="accentDivider"] Cam Shea is based in Sydney, Australia and recently put together a video showcasing 150 Tiny Things That Make Breath of the Wild a Game for the Ages. He's not really on Twitter.

Update (3/18/21) - Nintendo has provided a statement regarding Sony's acquisition of the Evolution Championship Series. “Nintendo has enjoyed engaging with fans at past Evo tournaments and wish the show organizers the best with their new venture. We will continue to assess Evo, and other opportunities, as we plan for future online and offline Super Smash Bros. tournament activity.” A spokesperson for Nintendo said. Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Sony has announced that it has acquired the Evolution Championship Series, better known as Evo, the world's largest fighting game tournament. Sony Interactive Entertainment and RTS, an esports venture from Endeavor, have acquired the "assets and properties" of the Evo series. The purchase means future Evo events are effectively Sony PlayStation events in partnership with RTS. Evo co-founders Tony and Tom Cannon will remain at Evo as key advisors and Sony took the opportunity to announce the 2021 dates for Evo Online. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/12/guilty-gear-strive-anji-mito-character-trailer"] This year's Evo event will be held digitally on August 6 - 8 and then August 13 - 15. Events will include Tekken 7, Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, and Guilty Gear - Strive -. Details on the online qualifiers will be shared in the coming weeks. As for other games. Evo business developer Mark Julio says "Evo is still open to all platforms," and that PlayStation and RTS are allowing Julio's team to work with its community to support fighting games as a whole. Though this doesn't concretely answer whether games from first-party developers like Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. will appear at future events.

Also very important to note. @EVO is still open to all platforms. The teams at PlayStation and RTS are enabling us to continue working with our community to support fighting games. https://t.co/NKMQUSvkfj

— Mark Julio (マークマン) (@MarkMan23) March 18, 2021

"Today, we're thrilled to announce the next chapter in the story of PlayStation and Evo, the world's largest and longest-running fighting game tournament," Sony says in a blog post detailing the acquisition. "For PlayStation, today's announcement marks an exciting step in our journey to foster the growth of the fighting game community and esports, and support competitive gamers widely on our consoles," says PlayStation. "Fighting games are hugely popular on PlayStation consoles, with gamers logging more than 1.1 billion gameplay hours in 2020 alone." Sony says it will "break down barriers" for gamers so they can compete at all levels of the sport and reaffirmed a commitment to creating a "safe and inclusive environment for players." PlayStation linked to Evo's message about fostering a safe community. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/17/mortal-kombat-11-ultimate-launch-trailer"] 2020's Evo Online event was canceled following abuse allegations against Evo organizer Joey Cueller. NetherRealm and Capcom pulled out of the 2020 event in solidarity with members of the fighting game community who spoke out against abuse. This in turn is part of a larger scandal that threatened to envelop the whole community. Sony's official involvement could signal stronger organizational support to create a safer environment for players and attendees. [poilib element="accentDivider"]  Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.