The European Championships just became a lot more interesting.

It isn't that Bob Question Mark wasn't already a rising star. They've had sporadic but important victories against Europe's top teams in recent events.

Their ultimate victory in the grand finals against Team ATN Fancy is perhaps not even all that surprising.

The development that complicates things — and that Europe's other teams should worry about — is the consistency that Bob has achieved against even Europe's strongest teams.

Bob's overall record against Team Liquid in this tournament's playoffs stage was 4-1. They were sent to the losers' bracket in the winners' finals by ATN Fancy, but still managed to take a game. Then, after their second series against Liquid — a 2-0 — they managed a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five grand finals against ATN Fancy.

In other words, this isn't a fluke. Bob is here to stay, and that reality will color the action that will take place in Prague.

Grand Finals

Game one, on Tomb of the Spider Queen, saw Bob walk out of the draft with a dream composition of Leoric, Arthas, Zeratul, Jaina and Kharazim. Bob played a dangerous but effective game, baiting fights and then turning them on their heads with snap shotcalling.

In game two, it was Bob's turn to get outdrafted. Fancy went into a three-warrior comp which saw Bob draft Sonya with their last pick. The Sonya didn't do much for Bob's chances as they fell on Sky Temple.

ATN Fancy stuck with what worked in game two, going for another three-warrior setup backed by Zagara and Rehgar. But Bob drafted Chen to deal with both the Zagara and the aggressive warrior lineup, while keeping Kharazim, Johanna, Kael'thas and Zeratul for themselves. That led to their second win of the series on Dragon Shire.

Both teams reverted to a more traditional European style for the final game, which took place on Battlefield of Eternity. Bob again opted for Kharazim after Fancy picked Uther first. Bob finished that game quickly — in under 15 minutes, it was done. Bob took the series 3-1.

Aftermath

James "Bakery" Baker has shown the competitive scene the power of Kharazim, and you can bet that teams who passed the monk over initially are probably re-evaluating that stance now. Fancy actually banned him in game two. Bob first-picked him in game three.

Fancy is the other big story of this tournament. They've looked strong before, but this performance, even with a second-place finish, solidifies the fact that they are up there with Europe's best.

Unfortunately for them, they didn't find their stride quickly enough to qualify for Prague. But their European competitors will certainly be watching in upcoming tournaments that aren't a part of the road to Blizzcon.

The landscaping is shifting only weeks before Prague. There's still time for teams to make adjustments, but they'll have to move fast. Not even Liquid can rest now.

They, like every other top-tier European team, needs to figure out the best way to defeat Bob. Fancy tried stranger tactics, like three-warrior compositions, as well as trying to go toe-to-toe with them using more conventional strategies. In the end, they fell when it mattered — in the grand finals.

Casting talent has sometimes joked that Bob Question Mark should change their name to Bob Exclamation Point, based on recent results. But perhaps, for a team that has proven consistency against the most dangerous European teams, it's time to simply omit the uncertainty.

It's Bob, period.

Josh Bury doesn't drop the egg when he plays Murky. He drops the enemy's base instead. You can follow him on Twitter.