Since the end of 1000 ping servers I find it's much easier to populate a server of my choice. Before I would have to use the servers that were already populated because starting a server was near impossible. Now I can play on Maps / player counts / modes that I choose.
Filters: Ranked, No Password, Not Full, Not Empty.
Classify by Ping.
You're done.I tend to use those very same filters (No password turns on automatically after I set Ranked to yes) Though I classify by game type and not server ping, since my actual ping in matches is far better than shown, even on so called 1000 ping servers.
I use the same filters, but ever since Patch 1.8 I couldn't find many games. Most games found are 1000 ping and are on a different continent. I didn't buy the DLC. However, the "favorites" and "recent" servers are still available.
At first I avoided 1000 ping servers but yesterday I joined two of them, one of them I had 100ping, second one I had 150ping. Not as good as the servers that say they have 100-150 ping where my ping during play usually ends up being, 50 to 90 but playable.