How does Arena Matchmaking work?

[AccioSkills]

Joined Arena for the first time today and most of my matches have been with people at much higher rankings than I am. Of course, I was utterly crushed every round. Is the matchmaking system just randomized, instead of pairing with similar ranked players? I'm used to videogame matchmaking where you almost always end up in lobbies with players of similar rank to you, making the matches equally challenging.

[mikkashar]

By default you can be matched with anyone in arena games. There are options to be only matched with people in the same band as you, or within one. Look under additional options in the gear menu in the play now lobby, or at the green door icon options in on the game page.

[Exotic Dreams]

There are some options for selecting arena matches. When you select a game, there's a door icon on the far right. Click on that door icon and it should give you options starting with "beginner "and ending with "master"
You can also use this same feature to select by reputation and language.

[mankatsu]

There are some options for selecting arena matches. When you select a game, there's a door icon on the far right. Click on that door icon and it should give you options starting with "beginner "and ending with "master"
You can also use this same feature to select by reputation and language.

These settings don't work at all.

[Ceaseless]

There are some options for selecting arena matches. When you select a game, there's a door icon on the far right. Click on that door icon and it should give you options starting with "beginner "and ending with "master"
You can also use this same feature to select by reputation and language.

This is Arena, there is no such thing as "beginner" or "master". The rating groups are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Elite.