Well this blew up quickly, thanks for the quick answers Lee and Afterburner!  FTW3 Hybrid seems to be my primary choice then, unless the price is too unreasonable or I luck out on stock.
 

kevinc313
Are you going to shunt mod the reference card?

No plans to shunt mod, don't want to risk voiding the warranty and am not very good with a soldering iron.

Afterburner

vgerik1234

EVGATech_LeeM
No ETA yet.

Is there any plans for a 30xx hybrid kit this time around? I don't know how much longer I can not be gaming on my PC. Either I buy the FTW Ultra and a Kit later on, or suffer even longer waiting for the Hybrid. My 980ti died in July and this has been brutal past few months. 
 
Will there be side grades for stepup? IE 3090 FTW and able to sidegrade it to 3090 Hybrid FTW? 

Graphics Cards Examples:

• GTX 980 Ti → GTX 1080: YES (Upgraded GPU)
• GTX 1060 3GB → GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming: YES (Upgraded Memory)
• GTX 1080 FTW → GTX 1080 Ti: YES (Upgraded Model)
• GTX 1070 Ti → GTX 1070: NO (Downgraded Performance)

Hypothetically, 3090 XC3 -> 3090 Hybrid FTW would be eligible if they put it up on the step-up? Or no because it's not really a model upgrade? Or I would have to do 3080 -> 3090 Hybrid? 

I don't want to be gambling on the Hybrid potentially and be stuck with a card I didn't necessarily want from the get go :(

EVGATech_LeeM
No ETA yet.

Should we take this to mean that they will not be around on the 24th?

vgerik1234
 

Hypothetically, 3090 XC3 -> 3090 Hybrid FTW would be eligible if they put it up on the step-up? Or no because it's not really a model upgrade? Or I would have to do 3080 -> 3090 Hybrid? 

I don't want to be gambling on the Hybrid potentially and be stuck with a card I didn't necessarily want from the get go :(

Here is what has happened "Historically"...
 
Short answer is no to the first part, and kind of to the second.
 
Here is the deal... EVGA has not posted all the GPU models for a series on the Step Up, like ever. Your scenario is very unlikely to happen, where EVGA would post  multiple offerings (3090 reference, FTW, FTW Ultra, Hybrid, Black, Kingpin and some other variant) in the Step Up program. 
 
Speaking to your question as only an example... The GPU need to be considered an upgrade. If the RAM and or spec (Not counting the clocks) are the same for the 3090 XC3 & 3090 Hybrid FTW might be considered unilateral and not qualify.
 
However. Say you want to go from a 3090 reference and EVGA has posted a FTW that has a higher RAM count than the reference. Then yes. In this hypothetical scenario you could Step Up if qualified. 
 
Bottom line....
 
You will most likely only see one, "Maybe" two models of any series in the Step Up program. 
 
You need to do what works best for you. 
 
Just look at this link https://www.evga.com/support/stepup/ and you can see most of your questions are answered. Including what I am speaking to above. You do not see a list of five models in one series as options to Step Up to.
 
Good luck and have fun!

Afterburner

vgerik1234
 

Hypothetically, 3090 XC3 -> 3090 Hybrid FTW would be eligible if they put it up on the step-up? Or no because it's not really a model upgrade? Or I would have to do 3080 -> 3090 Hybrid? 

I don't want to be gambling on the Hybrid potentially and be stuck with a card I didn't necessarily want from the get go :(

 
You will most likely only see one, "Maybe" two models of any series in the Step Up program. 
 
You need to do what works best for you. 
 
Just look at this link https://www.evga.com/support/stepup/ and you can see most of your questions are answered. Including what I am speaking to above. You do not see a list of five models in one series as options to Step Up to.
 
Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the amazing response. That has definitely helped me with my decision path. Again, I really appreciate the detailed responses.