Board Game Arena

What is the process to determine who you are matched up against in Arena? Why am I continuously matched up against 'Elite' players while I'm bronze? If there are different tiers I would imagine that the system is made up of SBMM, but it never feels like it is. I understand that people need to get better by playing against better players, but you can't improve when there is that big of a skill gap.

Can arena matchmaking please be improved? There are nearly 9k games at all times of Ark Nova.There is no shortage of players for one of the most popular games on this site.

I posted a similar thread and Ez0ah helped me out - the filters for arena are separate and (in my opinion) hard to find:

"There is a filter for Arena settings, in the play now/Arena page. You open the filters for your game (the cog icon under your league icon), then show advanced options at the bottom of the pop up. Then you can restrict your opponent’s level. In your case, you probably want to restrict players from leagues 2+ away from you."

Even after you've set the filters here, if you start a game other than from the play now page they don't apply, but I haven't been matched with anyone outside my filters using this method - although it can take several hours to find a match.