The thing is in QL cypher and rapha were way above the rest in results than everyone else. Combined results is what, 30 lans? There are like other 4 players that contest for third, but really they won like one thing each and then got lots of top8 finishes.
So for that third place, I think cooller was at the game's peak because he not only won that one tournament like many others, but also got second place in both IEM finals, pretty much the biggest events quake ever had, quakecon and many top4 and top8 finishes, way more than other player besides rapha and cypher. Strenx, evil, killsen and avek don't have as much good results in QL major lans, and in the biggest events -when it mattered- the only players that shined were rapha, cypher and cooller..Plus he also won minor lans such as russians (beating top form evil), tdm, etc.
But anyway, in QL that top3 spot is a consolation prize. The two top1 contenders won like 90% of lans.