THW Kiel won the cup for the eleventh time.
[1] The first round was split in a north and a south part and played in mini tournaments where only the winner advanced to the round of 16.
[2][3][4] The matches were played on 18 and 19 August 2018 with a semifinal and final.
The winner of each tournament advanced to the round of 16.
[5] The match from Berlin was moved forward to 16 September due to their involvement in the 2018 IHF Super Globe, the other matches will be played on 16 and 17 October 2018.