I taught my dd to read using a combination of phonics and sight words. If I had used phonics only, I don't think she would have learned to read, or at the very least enjoyed it.
I believe she is one of those 30-40% that pick up the patterns naturally. What I haven't seen addressed is that there are kids who do not do well with phonics only, and my dd was one of them. I think she is a whole to parts learner, and Reading Reflex, combined with the Pathway Readers, worked well with her.
She is 9, but reads at a middle school level, perhaps even high school. She can read new words, even difficult ones. I asked her how she learned them, and she said closed captioning. I have a hearing problem, and she watches all of her shows with cc. I had to admit, it made me laugh.