Do several encounters with top 100 players count? I used to be good friends with the guy that is now world #1 in Elimination (had a huge fallout with him in Halo: Reach days) and I've seen him more times than I'd like. When I check the monthly top 100 players for Xbox, I've played against the following from that list within that last month. -an abyssal one #2 -Ace of Di4monds #14 -no backup plan #22 -FullSpe3D (my current worst enemy) #42 -vI2 #70 -I Skye, lowest K/D listed here at 2.64 #93 Not to mention some other players that are within the top 1% (and top 100 in specific playlists) but weren't in the monthly Top 100 Went into Skirmish with a couple of friends the other day (both negative) and were decimated by a particular team of players at 2.30, 2.61 and 1.44. With myself being at 1.64, I hardly think that [i]that[/i] counts as a similar skill level for me alone, certainly not my friends. You're right when you say that we can only theorize, but it comes down to two options - SBMM is closer to what I say it is than to what you say, or I'm one of the unluckiest players around.