The matcher runs regularly through the day and pairs souls one to one. Automatic matches arrive one at a time, never more than one in a rolling 24 hours.
A pairing has to work in both directions: a language you could each hold a real conversation in, and each other's age preferences, applied over real dates of birth. If you added tribes to your match pool, those count too. Souls you have blocked, or who have blocked you, are never paired with you, and you are not re-paired with someone you have already been matched with.
There is no swiping and no deck of strangers. Each match is a real mutual invitation, and the conversation only opens when you both accept.