At that time, whoever made Shadow Lord was going to determine who made Emperor because Gzurweeg was probably going to vote for whoever was going to win anyway.
Moreover I would not have been any deadlier than I was if I got Emperor powers because I still had overpowered paladins solo raiding my cabal, or massive armies of A/B/S'ed fortlanders. On occasion it would be a Rager or two but they tended to raid/retrieve right at the times it would get them slaughtered, and send their lowbies to retrieve when I was the only one who could defend.
My point is, you're wrong, you can make Emperor. You just can't afford the number of hours it would cost to get and keep such a position.