We show that a class of near-marginal and low-collisional magnetised plasmas naturally evolve into a globally organised state dubbed the ' staircase'. A key signature of this self-organised state is the containment of avalanche activity, detrimental for confinement, by a series of microbarriers for transport, the staircase steps, beneficial for confinement. Conditions for existence of the staircase, impact on transport and confinement and robustness in parameter space are discussed.