Except he wasn't over-reliant on it, as is evident by his continued viability; and Freya wasn't destroyed by losing Fatalis. The point was that Wild Storm was a unique ability for its ability to act as a basic, which enabled it to act as short-range burst. That was the point. Now, it's just a generic cone with nothing special other than it can guarantee a bit more damage from Dragon Call. That is poor design.
You are not alone, nor is Ao the only victim of this phenomenon.