It is fixed at 20 with starter cards. I find it to be a good point of reference. I agree, though, it is plus or minus depending on other factors, such as a better deck for one.
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during the last tournament someone gave me 117+8
I won by using 5 1 star cards
Which makes sense if you're in a FATE party, since party contribution determines your reward for the FATE. If they didn't have that in place you would have low levels getting powerleved in CCH FATEs. But doing the same contribution by yourself on a lesser job for a lesser percent of level makes no sense either.
The issue is faceroll has a larger reward than skill for getting the exact same end result.