Good to see you too old friend.
All good I hope, my style of simcity play stems from my only wanting to make friends here.
As for the "elite" conversation, seriously there is no way to determine this from any types of ranking. I can achieve a top 20 position in any world by using mostly politics and head games. Most of the players I'd dub "elite" had their day in the top rankings and decided to move onto more challenging tasks. I've seen them reach those ranks, battle against unreal odds and win, run top tribes, then run training tribes, then take a group of unknowns to rank #1. I've seen them stage mini wars between small groups of them and 1 on 1.
Extreme activity and a strong knowledge set will get you top 20 in most worlds, now it's easier with two strong active players co-playing an account. True "elites" will keep pushing the boundaries instead of continuing to repeat something they've already succeeded at.