Quick disclosure...

Made it into the gladiator circuit for the first time ever.
Guessing the answer to my first question is readily available but, frankly, I'm just too lazy to look to find it. How does one move up in the gladiator circuit to new tier levels? And I mean beyond the obvious of win matches. Is there a point threshold to hit to move up? How does it work exactly?
Second, if you mute your opponent's emojis do they have any indication they've been muted or do they happily spam the stupid Loki one thinking that I'm seeing every single one over and over without knowing it's not being seen?