I think Kostner just got lucky that she did not draw Kim or Asada in any of her events and not because her federation was smart in choosing events for her so she could reach the GPF.
Kostner is not an outstanding early season skater, so she is vulnerable skating against anyone who can skate relatively clean programs.
There's also one other group that had to be considered in the draws: the 7-12 group (Meissner, Lepisto, Korpi, Liang, Sebestyen, Dytryt) each of whom is entitled to two events. That means each host must have two skaters in this group.
SA has Meissner (#7) and Dytryt (#12)
SC and TEB have Korpi (#9) and Liang (#10)
CoC has Lepisto (#8) and Sebestyen (#11)
CoR has Meissner (#7) and Sebestyen (#11)
NHK has Lepisto (#8) and Dytryt (#12)