Board Game Arena

I only like to play in the arena, but something I don't understand is why I almost always play against elite players and when I lose, which is often, I lose so many tokens making it almost impossible for me to advance. I don't mind playing the elite but even when I get great scores, IE in the 90s I will still be beat. Gets a bit demoralizing at times

You have a clogwork to choose your settings. In arena you can ask to only play against opponents on your league.

I didn't want to do that because I do enjoy playing the elite on occasion but have had to resort to that now. Pity GBA seems to put you up with the highest players first rather than your equals with an occasional good player to keep you interested

Assuming elite is the purple icon, I don't think that's as big a deal as you're making it out to be. A quick glance at your history and I've spotted even 200 rating players at this elite. I don't think the pairing system is the real issue for you. I think more of the struggle is that you're currently rated at the bottom of the ratings. You're currently at 100, and it's not possible to go lower. In your games you are frequently scoring below 80 points, I'm even seeing several below 70. Your 90+ loss was a rare game that occurred nearly a month ago.

I'd focus on picking up the basics, we've had several threads asking about improving where general tips are covered and several users have given replies that should be helpful. With those your standard score should improve and you shouldn't have as much difficulty even if you're paired against the Elite tag on Arena.

thanks ceaseless for taking the time to look at my games and giving me pointers

It is true du point system on arena is pretty harsh. One lose can get you very deep down, and wins almost nothing. You need a very long win streak to escape "elo hell"

Tra36Cee wrote: ↑04 August 2025, 15:04 I didn't want to do that because I do enjoy playing the elite on occasion but have had to resort to that now. Pity GBA seems to put you up with the highest players first rather than your equals with an occasional good player to keep you interested

Where do you see the option to do this? I don't see anything on my end.

fifthnephi wrote: ↑14 August 2025, 18:47

Tra36Cee wrote: ↑04 August 2025, 15:04 I didn't want to do that because I do enjoy playing the elite on occasion but have had to resort to that now. Pity GBA seems to put you up with the highest players first rather than your equals with an occasional good player to keep you interested

Where do you see the option to do this? I don't see anything on my end.

The player level setting is in the advanced options which you can reveal by clicking that on the bottom of the preferences pop-up. Though I thought it was always for ELO level. Apparently it's arena ranking when you're in Arena.