I'm using an emulator to play this game. I would install the original version first, start the game so it connects with Google Play. Close out of the game, then install the mod apk over the original version. Start the mod game and it connects and works fine. You will need lucky patcher to...
There isn't a max, I've gone up to 100x. You shouldn't need to go higher than that. You get banned when you attack a player that has a higher team power and you aren't suppose to beat them. They report you in. It's easy not to get banned. Don't abuse the cheat. If you don't want to get banned...
Don't attack teams with higher team power than yours in PvP. They check their battle logs and see a lower power team beating them, they will report you. Hence the ban and PvP point restart.